Fabrication of hyaluronic acid hydrogel beads for cell encapsulation

Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel beads were prepared by photopolymerization of methacrylated HA and N-vinylpyrrolidone using alginate as a temporal spherical mold. Various fabrication conditions for preparing the hydrogel beads, such as the concentration of methacrylated HA and UV irradiation time, were optimized to control swelling properties and enzymatic degradability. A new concept for cell encapsulation is proposed in this paper. Viable cells were directly injected into the hydrogel beads using a microinjection technique. When bovine articular chondrocytes were injected into HA hydrogel beads and cultivated for 1 week, the cells could proliferate well within the HA beads. HA hydrogel beads could be potentially used as injectable cell delivery vehicles for regenerating tissue defects.