Preparation of enzymatically cross-linked sulfated chitosan hydrogel and its potential application in thick tissue engineering

For the requirement of preliminary vascularization, the scaffolds for thick tissue engineering should possess not only good cell affinity, but also anticoagulant ability. In this paper, an enzymatically crosslinked hydrogel scaffold based on sulfated chitosan (SCTS) was prepared. Firstly, sulfated chitosan-hydroxyphenylpionic acid (SCTS-HPA) conjugate was synthesized, and its structure was identified by FITR and 1 H NMR. And then an enzymatically crosslinked hydrogel was prepared in the presence of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). The gelation time, mechanical property, morphology and cytotoxicity to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) of the hydrogel was evaluated in vitro , the tissue compatibility of SCTS scaffold was studied in vivo . The results showed that the gelation time, mechanical property, morphology of the dehydrated hydrogel could be controlled by the HRP and H 2 O 2 concentration. The cytotoxicity test showed that the hydrogel extracts had no cytotoxicity to HUVECs. The in vivo assay indicated that SCTS-HPA scaffold showed good tissue compatibility, and no thrombus formation. All these results indicated that the SCTS-HPA scaffold could be used as thick tissue engineering scaffold.