Christina Krauß

Master student

Fabrication of a bilayer OHA-based hydrogel system to mimic gray and white matter

 

Supervisors: Markus Lorke, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

 Hydrogels are suitable candidates for brain mimicking materials [1]. Among them, hyaluronic acid (HA) based hydrogels are promising for brain tissue engineering, due to its abundant presence in the brain extra cellular matrix [2]. When HA is oxidized, the resulting aldehyde groups allow crosslinking with amino groups, helping to overcome the lack of mechanical stability of pure HA. Crosslinking technique, polymer concentration and composition are additional factors influencing the printability and mechanical properties [3]. The aim of this project is to investigate the printability of different compositions of oxidized hyaluronic acid (OHA) – based hydrogels crosslinked with an enzymatic agent, and to print bilayer OHA-based hydrogel systems that come close to mimicking the mechanical properties of brain-like structures. The project is carried out in the frame of the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1540 Exploring Brain Mechanics.

[1] Hopkins A. M.; DeSimone E.; Chwalek K.; Kaplan D. L. (2015): 3D in vitro modeling of the central nervous system. Prog Neurobiol, 125, p. 1–25. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2014.11.003.

[2]  Madhusudanan P.; Raju G.; Shankarappa S. (2020): Hydrogel systems and their role in neural tissue engineering. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 17 (162), p. 20190505. doi:10.1098/rsif.2019.0505.

[3]  Kuth S.; Karakaya E.; Reiter N.; Schmidt L.; Paulsen F.; Teßmar J., et al. (2022): Oxidized Hyaluronic Acid-Gelatin-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering and Soft Tissue Mimicking. Tissue Eng Part C Methods, 28 (7), p. 301–313. doi:10.1089/ten.TEC.2022.0004.