Anbang Jin

Master Student

Fabrication and characterization of alginate dialdehyde-gelatin-bioactive glass microcapsules

Betreuer: Supachai Reakasame, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Achieving cell spreading and proliferation inside hydrogels that are compatible with microencapsulation technology represents a major challenge for tissue engineering scaffolding and for the development of 3D cell culture models [1]. Alginate-based hydrogels are widely used in tissue engineering due to their superior features similar to the extracellular matrix of human tissues. However, alginate has some undesired properties such as low degradability in vivo and low cellular interaction [2]. In the present study, alginate dialdehyde (ADA) synthesized via periodate oxidation of alginate will be used to improve degradability of alginate. To improve cell-material interaction, ADA will be covalently crosslinked with gelatin. Bioactive glass (BG), well known for promoting mineralization, will be incorporated into the ADA-gelatin. This project aims to fabricate ADA-gelatin-BG composite microcapsules via a pressure-driven extrusion technique and to evaluate their physico-chemical characterizations. The biocompatibility of the microcapsules will also be investigated.

[1] Grigore A, Sarker B, Fabry B, et al., Behavior of encapsulated MG-63 cells in RGD and gelatine-modified alginate hydrogels. Tissue Engineering Part A, 2014, 20(15-16): 2140-2150.

[2] Reakasame S, Boccaccini A R. Oxidized Alginate-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Review. Biomacromolecules, 2017, 19(1): 3-21.