2-Thiophene ethylamine modified hyaluronic acid with its application on hepatocytes culture

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a component of extracellular matrix, which is important for cell functions and tissue integrity. Biosynthesized HA, as well as its derivatives, is widely used in cosmetics industry, biochemical medicine and medical surgery. In this research, we report a new hyaluronic acid derivative synthesized by amidation of hyaluronic acid with 2-thiophene ethylamine (2TEA). 2-chloro-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (CDMT) served as the activating agent of the carboxylic groups. Primary mouse hepatocytes cultured with this derivative HA-2TEA maintained their epithelial morphology and showed better hepatic functions. This result was confirmed by the higher expression levels of hepatic functional genes in primary hepatocyte cultured with HA-2TEA derivative. Moreover, the protein levels of several hepatic genes were further confirmed by immunofluorescence staining. Thus HA-2TEA(2-thiopheneethylamine) derivative demonstrated good capacity on hepatocytes culture, and maintained hepatocyte functions in vitro.