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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1421415
This article is part of the Research Topic Biomaterials and Biological Regulation for Bone Tissue Remodeling and Regeneration View all articles

Development of nanocomposite hydrogel using citrate-containing amorphous calcium phosphate and gelatin methacrylate

Provisionally accepted
Abhishek Indurkar Abhishek Indurkar 1Kristaps Rubenis Kristaps Rubenis 1Aldo R. Boccaccini Aldo R. Boccaccini 2Janis Locs Janis Locs 1,3*
  • 1 Institute of Biomaterials and Bioengineering, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Riga Technical University, Riga, Pulka 3, LV-1007, Latvia, Riga, Latvia
  • 2 Institute of Biomaterials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany
  • 3 Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nanocomposite hydrogels are suitable in bone tissue engineering due to their resemblance with the extracellular matrix, ability to match complex geometries, and ability to provide a framework for cell attachment and proliferation. The nanocomposite hydrogel comprises organic and inorganic counterparts. Gelatin methacrylate (GELMA) is an extensively used organic counterpart in tissue engineering due to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and bioactivity. The photo-crosslinking of GELMA presents a challenge when aiming to create thicker nanocomposite hydrogels due to opacity induced by fillers, which obstructs the penetration of ultraviolet (UV) light. Therefore, using a chemical crosslinking approach, we have developed nanocomposite GELMA hydrogel in this study by incorporating citrate-containing amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP_CIT). Ammonium persulfate (APS) and Tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) were deployed to crosslink the methacrylate group of GELMA. The oscillatory shear tests have confirmed that crosslinking enhances both storage (G') and loss modulus (G") of GELMA. Subsequently, incorporation of ACP_CIT in GELMA hydrogel shows further enhancement in G' and G" values. In vitro analysis of the developed hydrogels revealed that chemical crosslinking and incorporation of ACP_CIT do not compromise the cytocompatibility of the GELMA. Hence, for developing nanocomposite GELMA hydrogels employing APS/TEMED crosslinking emerges as a promising alternative to photo-crosslinking.

    Keywords: nanocomposite hydrogel, amorphous calcium phosphate, Citrate-containing amorphous calcium phosphate, Gelatin methacrylate, chemical crosslinking, Biomaterials, bone tissue engineering

    Received: 22 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Indurkar, Rubenis, Boccaccini and Locs. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Janis Locs, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.