Photopolymerized Injectable Water-soluble Maleilated Chitosan/ Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogels as Potential Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Photocrosslinkable water-soluble maleilated chitosan was synthesized by mixing high molecular weight of chitosan with maleic anhydride under mild and heterogeneous reaction conditions using dimethyl sulfoxine as a solvent. And then, maleilated chitosan (MCS)/ poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels were prepared under UV radiation. Series of properties of the hydrogels including rheological property, swelling behavior, morphology and mechanical test were investigated. The results showed that, the MCS/PEGDA hydrogels had faster gel-fowling rate, higher compressive strength than MCS hydrogel. The swelling behavior and mechanical properties of the hydrogels were also tunable via the control of weight ratio of MCS to PEGDA. The indirect cytotoxicity assessments of the hydrogels were studied. The result showed the photocrosslinked hydrogels was compatible to L929 cells at low dosages. Cell culture assay also demonstrated that the hydrogels were good in promoting the L929 cells attachment, showing their potential as tissue engineering scaffolds.