Synthesis and Characterization of Hybrid Hyaluronic Acid-Gelatin Hydrogels

Biomimetic hybrid hydrogels have generated broad interest in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin (hydrolyzed collagen) are naturally derived polymers and biodegradable under physiological conditions. Moreover, collagen and HA are major components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in most of the tissues (e.g., cardiovascular, cartilage, neural). When used as a hybrid material, HA-gelatin hydrogels may enable mimicking the ECM of native tissues. Although HA-gelatin hybrid hydrogels are promising biomimetic substrates, their material properties have not been thoroughly characterized in the literature. Herein, we generated hybrid hydrogels with tunable physical and biological properties by using different concentrations of HA and gelatin. The physical properties of the fabricated hydrogels including swelling ratio, degradation, and mechanical properties were investigated. In addition, in vitro cellular responses in both two and three-dimensional culture conditions were assessed. It was found that the addition of gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) into HA methacrylate (HAMA) promoted cell spreading in the hybrid hydogels. Moreover, the hybrid hydrogels showed significantly improved mechanical properties compared to their single component analogs. The HAMA-GelMA hydrogels exhibited remarkable tunability behavior and may be useful for cardiovascular tissue engineering applications.