Biocompatibility of injectable resilin-based hydrogels

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Vocal fold injuries cause fibrotic stiffening and voice disorders.
• Current injectable biomaterials derived from natural sources lack mechanical robustness and tunable properties.
• Resilin-inspired elastomeric hydrogels offer a promising alternative for vocal fold tissue repair.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility and injectability of novel resilin-based hydrogels.
• To assess the mechanical properties and inflammatory response of these hydrogels after subcutaneous injection.
• To explore the potential of these materials for site-specific delivery in vocal fold regeneration.

Main Methods:

• Development of resilin-inspired elastomeric hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties.
• Subcutaneous injection of hydrogel precursors into a wild-type mice model.
• Characterization of hydrogel mechanical properties using oscillatory rheology.
• Histological analysis and gene expression profiling to assess inflammatory response at three weeks post-injection.

Main Results:

• Resilin-based hydrogels exhibited storage shear moduli between 1000-2000 Pa, mimicking vocal fold tissue biomechanics.
• Rapid crosslinking kinetics facilitated facile injection and in situ gelation.
• Histology and gene expression data indicated minimal inflammatory profiles three weeks after injection.
• Demonstrated successful site-specific in vivo delivery and integration.

Conclusions:

• Resilin-based hydrogels show excellent injectability and rapid in situ solidification.
• These materials possess biomechanical properties suitable for vocal fold tissue engineering.
• The observed minimal inflammatory response supports their potential for safe in vivo application in voice disorder treatments.