Synthesis of thermal polymerizable alginate-GMA hydrogel for cell encapsulation

Alginate is a negative ionic polysaccharide that is found abundantly in nature. Calcium is usually used as a cross-linker for alginate. However, calcium cross-linked alginate is used only for in vitro culture. In the present work, alginate was modified with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) to produce a thermal polymerizable alginate-GMA (AA-GMA) macromonomer. The molecular structure and methacrylation (%DM) of the macromonomer were determined by ¹H NMR. After mixing with the correct amount of initiator, the AA-GMA aqueous solution can be polymerized at physiological temperature. The AA-GMA hydrogels exhibited a three-dimensional porous structure with an average pore size ranging from 50 to 200 m, directly depending on the macromonomer concentration. Biocompatibility of the AA-GMA hydrogel was determined by in vivo muscle injection and cell encapsulation. Muscle injection in vivo showed that the AA-GMA solution mixed with initiator could form a hydrogel in situ and had a mild inflammatory effect. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were encapsulated in the AA-GMA hydrogels in situ at 37°C. Cell viability and proliferation were unaffected by macromonomer concentrations, which suggests that AA-GMA has a potential application in the field of tissue engineering, especially for myocardial repair.