Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Hydrogels can serve as matrices to mimic natural tissue function and be used for wide-ranging applications such as tissue regeneration and drug delivery. Injectable hydrogels are particularly favorable because their uses are minimally invasive. However, to create mouldable substance for injection often results in compromised function and stability. Here we report an injectable hydrogel system crosslinked by peptide-oligosaccharide non-covalent interaction. The dynamic network showed fast self-healing, a property essential for injectability. Injected hydrogels in immunocompetent mice and release of encapsulated compound were monitored up to 9 months by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging. This surprisingly stable hydrogel did not cause adverse inflammatory response, as analyzed by measuring cytokine levels, immunohistochemistry, and MRI. Hydrogel degradation is associated with invasion of macrophages and vascular formation. The facile synthesis, high biocompatibility and stability of this injectable hydrogel could lead to various experimental and clinical applications in regenerative medicine and drug delivery.