Hyaluronic acid-g-poly(HEMA) copolymer with potential implications for lung tissue engineering

Tissue engineering represents an attractive potential for regeneration of engineered functional pulmonary tissue. Hyaluronic acid, an extracellular matrix component promotes the growth and proliferation of most cells. The high water affinity of hyaluronic acid (HA) adversely affects its application in the field of tissue engineering. A copolymer of hyaluronic acid and poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate), [poly(HEMA)] appeared as a good choice for the synthesis of a natural-synthetic polymer hybrid matrix with the synergistic properties of both the polymers like water stability and biocompatibility. The copolymer films were stable in water at both acidic and neutral pH in contrast to that of virgin HA films. Grafting significantly alters the mechanical properties of hyaluronic acid. The HA-g-poly(HEMA) is found to be non-cytotoxic to mammalian cells. Further, the polymer was analysed for supporting alveolar cell adhesion and growth and were found suitable for supporting multiple cell types with specific culture requirements. Thus, grafting with poly(HEMA) is a suitable method for the fabrication of stable, cytocompatible natural-synthetic polymer hybrid matrices for varied biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, wound dressings, drug delivery and so forth.