Thermo-reversible injectable hydrogel composing of pluronic F127 and carboxymethyl hexanoyl chitosan for cell-encapsulation

This study demonstrated a novel injectable-thermoreversible hydrogel scaffold composing of PLuronic F127, carboxymethyl hexanoyl chitosan (CA) and glyoxal (Gx) for encapsulating human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells. The hydrogel was prepared by simply mixing CA, F127 and Gx. In so doing, this system exhibited short gelation time and higher gelation temperature. In addition, this hydrogel exhibited thermo-reversibility, that is, the hydrogel can liquefy at room temperature and revert to gel state at body temperature. The encapsulated cells in this hydrogel proliferated more than 400% in the 5-day incubation. Based on these results, these F127/CA/Gx hydrogels can be used to encapsulate cells for tissue engineering applications.