An Injectable and Antifouling Supramolecular Polymer Hydrogel with Microenvironment-Regulatory Function to Prevent Peritendinous Adhesion and Promote Tendon Repair.

Abstract

The imbalance of extrinsic and intrinsic healing of tendon is thought to be the main cause of peritendinous adhesions. In this work, we prepare an injectable supramolecular poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) acrylamide) (PHPAm) hydrogel merely via side chain hydrogen-bonding crosslinks. This PHPAm exhibits good antifouling and self-healing properties. The supramolecular hydrogel simultaneously loaded with Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles and platelet lysate (PL) is exlpored as a functional physical barrier, which could significantly resist the adhesion of fibrin and fibroblasts, attenuate the local inflammatory response, and enhance the tenocytes activity, thus balancing extrinsic and intrinsic healing. The PHPAm hydrogel is shown to prevent peritendinous adhesions considerably by inhibiting NF-κB inflammatory pathway and TGF-β1/Smad3-mediated fibrosis pathway, thereby significantly improving tendon repair by releasing bioactive factors to regulate the tenocytes behavior. This work provides a new strategy for developing physical barriers to prevent peritendinous adhesions and promote tissue repair effectively. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.