A HYDROGEL PROGRAMMED TO BREAK DOWN

Bioscaffolding Material Engineered by Team at Rice University

A research team based at Rice University, Houston, USA, has developed a thermogelling hydrogel that acts as a delivery system for stem cells.

When stem cells are introduced into the body they require a space within which to grow and develop. Thermogelling hydrogels harden when they are heated above a certain temperature and can be used as a scaffold to grow cells.

Researchers at Rice University have collaborated with Baylor College of Medicine, to engineer a hydrogel that hardens when injected into defective bone tissue.

It is the body’s own temperature that causes the thermogelling hydrogel to solidify, this creates a space for the stem cells to grow and regenerate the bone tissue.

However, thermogelling polymers begin to collapse and expel water once they have hardened, thereby defeating their original purpose as a growth medium.

Project leader Brendan Watson and his colleagues solved this problem by adding chemical cross-linkers to the gel which stabilize the hydrogel and allow it to act as a scaffold for the new bone cells.

The stabilized gel is designed to eventually break down and be replaced by more bone tissue. This is due to the degradation of the chemical crosslinks by catalysts such as alkaline phosphatase. These catalysts occur naturally in the bone tissue.

Watson and his colleagues are currently focused on cranial and facial bone regeneration, but it is hoped this stem cell scaffolding technique may be used for other types of bone, further down the line.