Bio-inspired green light crosslinked alginate-heparin hydrogels support HUVEC tube formation

Alginate is a polysaccharide which forms hydrogels via ionic and/or covalent crosslinking. The goal was to develop a material with suitable, physiologically relevant mechanical properties and biological impact for use in wound treatment. To determine if the novel material can initiate tube formation on its own, without the dependance on the addition of growth factors, heparin and/or arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid (RGD) was covalently conjugated onto the alginate backbone. Herein, cell adhesion motifs and bioactive functional groups were incorporated covalently within alginate hydrogels to study the: 1) impact of crosslinked heparin on tubular network formation, 2) impact of RGD conjugation, and the 3) biological effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) loading on cellular response. We investigated the structure-properties-function relationship and determined the viscoelastic and burst properties of the hydrogels most applicable for use as a healing cell and tissue adhesive material. Methacrylation of alginate and heparin hydroxyl groups respectively enabled free-radical covalent inter- and intra-molecular photo-crosslinking when exposed to visible green light in the presence of photo-initiators; the shear moduli indicate mechanical properties comparable to clinical standards. RGD was conjugated via carbodiimide chemistry at the alginate carboxyl groups. The adhesive and mechanical properties of alginate and alginate-heparin hydrogels were determined via burst pressure testing and rheology. Higher burst pressure and material failure at rupture imply physical tissue adhesion, advantageous for a tissue sealant healing material. After hydrogel formation, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded onto the alginate-based hydrogels; cytotoxicity, total protein content, and tubular network formation were assessed. Burst pressure results indicate that the cell responsive hydrogels adhere to collagen substrates and exhibit increased strength under high pressures. Furthermore, the results show that the green light crosslinked alginate-heparin maintained cell adhesion and promoted tubular formation.