Bioamine-crosslinked gellan gum hydrogel for neural tissue engineering

Abstract

Neural tissue engineering and three-dimensional in vitro tissue modeling require the development of biomaterials that take into account the specified requirements of human neural cells and tissue. In this study, an alternative method of producing biomimetic hydrogels based on gellan gum (GG) was developed by replacing traditional crosslinking methods with the bioamines spermidine and spermine. These bioamines were proven to function as crosslinkers for GG hydrogel at +37 °C, allowing for the encapsulation of human neurons. We studied the mechanical and rheological properties of the formed hydrogels, which showed biomimicking properties comparable to naïve rabbit brain tissue under physiologically relevant stress and strain. Human pluripotent stem cell-derived neuronal cells demonstrated good cytocompatibility in the GG-based hydrogels. Moreover, functionalization of GG hydrogels with laminin resulted in cell type-specific behavior: neuronal cell maturation and neurite migration.