Injectable in situ Physically and Chemically Crosslinkable Gellan Hydrogel

An injectable, in situ physically and chemically crosslinkable gellan hydrogel is synthesized via gellan thiolation. The thiolation does not alter the gellan's unique 3-D conformation, but leads to a lower phase transition temperature under physiological conditions and stable chemical crosslinking. The synthesis and hydrogels are characterized by 1H NMR, FT-IR, CD, or rheology measurements. The injectability and the tissue culture cell viability is also tested. The thiolated gellan hydrogel exhibits merits, such as ease for injection, quick gelation, lower gelling temperature, stable structure, and nontoxicity, which make it promising in biomedicine and bioengineering as an injectable hydrogel.