Injectable hydrogels prepared from partially oxidized hyaluronate and glycol chitosan for chondrocyte encapsulation

Hyaluronate has attracted great attention in tissue engineering as a scaffolding material. However, hyaluronate typically requires chemical cross-linking molecules to form hydrogels, which may induce undesirable side effects in the body. In this study, hyaluronate was partially oxidized with sodium periodate to generate aldehyde groups in the backbone, and simply mixed with glycol chitosan to form gels via Schiff base formation. The effects of the degree of oxidization, polymer concentration, and polymer composition on the mechanical properties of oxidized hyaluronate/glycol chitosan hydrogels were investigated in vitro. Degradation behavior and biocompatibility of oxidized hyaluronate/glycol chitosan gels were also evaluated in vitro. This system may be potentially useful as an injectable system in many tissue engineering applications, including cartilage regeneration.