Injectable Enzymatically Crosslinked Type II collagen Hydrogel for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

فاقد چكيده فارسي

Type II collagen is the most abundant component of cartilage extracellular matrix. Hence type II collagen is an attractive material for cartilage tissue engineering (TE) as it provides more biomimetic environment. However, its application in form of hydrogel is restricted by poor gelation and low mechanical properties. In this study, we developed an injectable enzymatically crosslinked hydrogel composed of type II collagen-tyramine (COL-TA) conjugate under physiological condition using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and non-toxic concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for cartilage tissue engineering. This crosslinking method makes this system minimally invasive and easily applicable for tissue regeneration. This study involves extraction of type II collagen from chicken sternum, COL-TA conjugate synthesis and COL-TA hydrogel formation. Extracted collagen showed a single band on SDS-PAGE. The properties of hydrogels were characterized in terms of grafting ratio, morphology, gelation time, and rheological characterization. Taken together, injectable COL-TA hydrogel is expected to be suitable scaffold for cartilage regeneration applications.