Cell-laden photocrosslinked GelMA-DexMA copolymer hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties for tissue engineering

To effectively repair or replace damaged tissues, it is necessary to design three dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix (ECM) mimicking scaffolds with tunable biomechanical properties close to the desired tissue application. In the present work, gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and dextran glycidyl methacrylate (DexMA) with tunable mechanical and biological properties were utilized to prepared novel bicomponent polymeric hydrogels by cross-linking polymerization using photoinitiation. We controlled the degree of substitution (DS) of glycidyl methacrylate in DexMA so that they could obtain relevant mechanical properties. The results indicated that copolymer hydrogels demonstrated a lower swelling ratio and higher compressive modulus as compared to the GelMA. Moreover, all of the hydrogels exhibited a honeycomb-like architecture, the pore sizes decreased as DS increased, and NIH-3T3 fibroblasts encapsulated in these hydrogels all exhibited excellent viability. These characteristics suggest a class of photocrosslinkable, tunable mechanically copolymer hydrogels that may find potential application in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.