Proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans improve toughness of biocompatible double network hydrogels.

Zhao, Yu; Nakajima, Tasuku; Yang, Jing Jing; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Liu, Jian; Lu, Jishun; Mizumoto, Shuji; Sugahara, Kazuyuki et al. · Adv Mater · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Based on the molecular stent concept, a series of tough double-network hydrogels (St-DN gels) made from the components of proteoglycan aggregates - chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (1), chondroitin sulfate (2), and sodium hyaluronate (3) - are successfully developed in combination with a neutral biocompatible polymer. This work demonstrates a promising method to create biopolymer-based tough hydrogels for biomedical applications.

Medical subject headings