A Neural Tissue Engineering Construct Based on Photocrosslinked Gelatin-Polyacrylamide

From the perspective of improving the physicochemical properties of nerve tissue regeneration materials, biocompatible photocrosslinked gelatin (GelMA) and hydrophilic polymer polyacrylamide (PAM) were selected to construct a composite hydrogel scaffold for supporting Schwann cell growth. With pure GelMA as a control, the morphology, physicochemical properties and mechanical properties of photocrosslinked GelMA-PAM composite hydrogels with different concentrations were tested; The biocompatibility, growth, and differentiation of Schwann cells on scaffolds were observed. The experimental results show that PAM can improve the mechanical properties of GelMA scaffolds. When the mass fractions of GelMA and PAM are 10% and 2.5%, respectively, the scaffolds have good biocompatibility and can promote the differentiation of Schwann neurons. Therefore, the GelMA-PAM composite hydrogel scaffold developed in this experiment can be used as an ideal neural tissue engineering construct.