A Ben Bouali, A Montembault, L David, Y Von Boxberg, M Viallon, B Hamdi, F Nothias, R Fodil, S Féréol
{"title":"Nanoscale mechanical properties of chitosan hydrogels as revealed by AFM.","authors":"A Ben Bouali, A Montembault, L David, Y Von Boxberg, M Viallon, B Hamdi, F Nothias, R Fodil, S Féréol","doi":"10.1007/s40204-020-00141-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the context of tissue engineering, chitosan hydrogels are attractive biomaterials because they represent a family of natural polymers exhibiting several suitable features (cytocompatibility, bioresorbability, wound healing, bacteriostatic and fungistatic properties, structural similarity with glycosaminoglycans), and tunable mechanical properties. Optimizing the design of these biomaterials requires fine knowledge of its physical characteristics prior to assessment of the cell-biomaterial interactions. In this work, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we report a characterization of mechanical and topographical properties at the submicron range of chitosan hydrogels, depending on physico-chemical parameters such as their polymer concentration (1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5%), their degree of acetylation (4% and 38.5%), and the conditions of the gelation process. Well-known polyacrylamide gels were used to validate the methodology approach for the determination and analysis of elastic modulus (i.e., Young's modulus) distribution at the gel surface. We present elastic modulus distribution and topographical and stiffness maps for different chitosan hydrogels. For each chitosan hydrogel formulation, AFM analyses reveal a specific asymmetric elastic modulus distribution that constitutes a useful hallmark for chitosan hydrogel characterization. Our results regarding the local mechanical properties and the topography of chitosan hydrogels initiate new possibilities for an interpretation of the behavior of cells in contact with such soft materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":20691,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Biomaterials","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.4000,"publicationDate":"2020-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s40204-020-00141-4","citationCount":"13","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Progress in Biomaterials","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40204-020-00141-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2020/11/6 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, BIOMEDICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 13
Abstract
In the context of tissue engineering, chitosan hydrogels are attractive biomaterials because they represent a family of natural polymers exhibiting several suitable features (cytocompatibility, bioresorbability, wound healing, bacteriostatic and fungistatic properties, structural similarity with glycosaminoglycans), and tunable mechanical properties. Optimizing the design of these biomaterials requires fine knowledge of its physical characteristics prior to assessment of the cell-biomaterial interactions. In this work, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we report a characterization of mechanical and topographical properties at the submicron range of chitosan hydrogels, depending on physico-chemical parameters such as their polymer concentration (1.5%, 2.5% and 3.5%), their degree of acetylation (4% and 38.5%), and the conditions of the gelation process. Well-known polyacrylamide gels were used to validate the methodology approach for the determination and analysis of elastic modulus (i.e., Young's modulus) distribution at the gel surface. We present elastic modulus distribution and topographical and stiffness maps for different chitosan hydrogels. For each chitosan hydrogel formulation, AFM analyses reveal a specific asymmetric elastic modulus distribution that constitutes a useful hallmark for chitosan hydrogel characterization. Our results regarding the local mechanical properties and the topography of chitosan hydrogels initiate new possibilities for an interpretation of the behavior of cells in contact with such soft materials.
期刊介绍:
Progress in Biomaterials is a multidisciplinary, English-language publication of original contributions and reviews concerning studies of the preparation, performance and evaluation of biomaterials; the chemical, physical, biological and mechanical behavior of materials both in vitro and in vivo in areas such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, drug delivery and implants where biomaterials play a significant role. Including all areas of: design; preparation; performance and evaluation of nano- and biomaterials in tissue engineering; drug delivery systems; regenerative medicine; implantable medical devices; interaction of cells/stem cells on biomaterials and related applications.