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E. Zerobin, M. Markovic, Z. Tomasikova, X.H. Qin, D. Ret, P. Steinbauer, J. Kitzmüller, W. Steiger, P. Gruber, A. Ovsianikov, R. Liska, S. Baudis:
"Hyaluronic acid vinyl esters: A toolbox toward controlling mechanical properties of hydrogels for 3D microfabrication";
Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 58 (2020), 8; 1288 - 1298.

In this study, a thorough exploration of constitutional parameters of thiol-ene photocrosslinkable hydrogels based on hyaluronic acid vinyl ester was con-ducted in order to decipher their impact on material properties. These consti-tutional parameters originated from the process of synthesis (macromer size and degree of substitution) and from the process of formulation (photoinitiator concentration, macromer content, and thiol-to-ene ratio). Various macromers were obtained with a broad variety of degrees of substitution. Photorheology measurements were performed in order to determine the influence of the structure parameters on photoreactivity and the physical properties of hydro-gels. Final crosslink densities and photoreactivities dramatically increase with increasing number of functional groups, macromer concentrations as well as with photoinitiator concentration. Swellabilities of the hydrogels were deter-mined as complementary reference values. Mass swelling ratios as well as mass loss increased with decreasing degree of substitution as a result of increased mesh size and hydrophilicity. Finally, hyaluronic acid vinyl ester formulations were used to encapsulate fluorescent-labeled immortalized human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in 3D via UV and by high-resolution two-photon polymerization. Cell-survival was successfully studied via confocal laser scanning microscopy during the course of 2 weeks.

hyaluronic acid, biofabrication, cell encapsulation, Photopolymerization, two-photon polymerization

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pol.20200073

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pol.20200073