Abstract
Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is a versatile biomaterial that has been used in various biomedical fields. Thus far, however, GelMA is mostly obtained from mammalian sources, which are associated with a risk of transmission of diseases, such as mad cow disease, as well as certain religious restrictions. In this study, we synthesized GelMA using fish-derived gelatin by a conventional GelMA synthesis method, and evaluated its physical properties and cell responses. The lower melting point of fish gelatin compared to porcine gelatin allowed larger-scale synthesis of GelMA and enabled hydrogel fabrication at room temperature. The properties (mechanical strength, water swelling degree and degradation rate) of fish GelMA differed from those of porcine GelMA, and could be tuned to suit diverse applications. Cells adhered, proliferated, and formed networks with surrounding cells on fish GelMA, and maintained high initial cell viability. These data suggest that fish GelMA could be utilized in a variety of biomedical fields as a substitute for mammalian-derived materials.
Highlights
Hydrogels are composed of hydrophilic polymer networks crosslinked by chemical reactions such as covalent bonding, ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and crystallizing segments as well as protein interactions, etc
The results suggest the feasibility of use of fish gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) as a substitute for mammalian GelMA in drug delivery, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering
Since methacrylic anhydride (MA) bonds mainly to reactive amine groups on the polypeptide backbone [9], the degree of methacrylation of GelMA was quantified by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid solution (TNBS) assay; the results confirmed the extent of substitution of free amine groups in gelatin and GelMA chains
Summary
Hydrogels are composed of hydrophilic polymer networks crosslinked by chemical reactions such as covalent bonding, ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and crystallizing segments as well as protein interactions, etc. A variety of naturally sourced and synthetic polymer-based materials have been employed as hydrogels for biomedical applications, including regenerative medicine, drug delivery, and tissue engineering [1,2,3,4]. Microengineered Cold Water Fish Gelatin Hydrogel articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section The Samsung Electronics (Commercial affiliation) provided support in the form of salaries for author [J. M. Cha], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section
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