Photopolymerized hydrogels are extensively investigated for various tissue engineering applications, primarily due to their ability to form hydrogels in a minimally invasive manner. Although photocrosslinkable hydrogels provide necessary biological and chemical characteristics to mimic cellular microenvironments, they often lack sufficient mechanical properties. Recently, nanocomposite approach...

Intrarenal drug delivery from a hydrogel carrier implanted under the kidney capsule is an innovative way to induce kidney tissue regeneration and/or prevent kidney inflammation or fibrosis. We report here on the development of supramolecular hydrogels for this application. We have synthesized two types of supramolecular hydrogelators by connecting the hydrogen bonding moieties to poly(ethylene ...

background: the excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and biological properties of the hydrogels, fabricated using natural polymers, especially polysaccharides, are very advantageous for biomedical applications. gum tragacanth (gt) is a heterogeneous highly branched anionic polysaccharide, which has been used extensively in food and pharmaceutical industries. despite,  its desirable prop...

Two metallohydrogels based on an amino acid-based ligand and Zn(II) salts were synthesized. These hydrogels show an uncommon, reversible, time-dependent transformation from the opaque to transparent state. These hydrogels also exhibit gradual dissolution in water (pH ≤ 7) over time. A water-soluble stimulant, caffeine, could be in situ loaded into the hydrogels and slowly released during dissol...

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural linear polysaccharide that has been used extensively in the biomedical field as it is a biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic and non-immunogenic polymer with high water affinity. Besides, the presence of multiple acid and hydroxyl groups in the HA molecule makes it an ideal candidate for chemical modification. The present paper describes the synthesis and cha...

A series of amphiphilic tyrosine based self-healable, multi-stimuli responsive metallo-hydrogels have been discovered. Formation of these hydrogels is highly selective to Ni(2+) ions. The self-healing property and the stiffness of these metallo-hydrogels can be tuned by varying the chain length of the corresponding gelator amphiphile.

Multi-stimuli responsive hydrogels are synthesized using self-assembled nanomicelles of Pluronic F127 diacrylate triblock copolymer as non-covalent macro-crosslinkers to in situ copolymerize with acrylamide and methyl chloride quaternized N,N-dimethylamino ethylacrylate monomers, generating positively charged hydrogels. These hydrogels showed high strength, toughness, and outstanding fatigue re...

Background and Aims: Recently we reported that direct injection of M1 macrophages significantly caused tumor regression in vivo. Despite the promising result, a major limitation in translating this approach is the induction of acute inflammatory response. To improve the strategy, a biocompatible scaffold for cell presentation and support is essential to control cell fate. Here, we aimed to eluc...

Emerging applications of hydrogels such as soft robotics and cartilage tissue scaffolds require hydrogels with enhanced mechanical performance. We report the development of a robust biopolymer based ionic-covalent entanglement network hydrogel made from calcium cross-linked gellan gum and genipin cross-linked gelatin. The ratio of the two polymers and the cross-linker concentrations significant...

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) hydrogels prepared by colloidal crystals templating display highly reversible shape memory properties, as confirmed by indirect electron microscopy imaging of their inverse replicas and direct nanoscale resolution X-ray microscopy imaging of the hydrated hydrogels. Modifications of functional groups in the 3DOM hydrogels result in various materials...