Abstract
The sol-gel process is an inorganic polymerization proceeding under mild conditions compatible with fragile biological cargos and live cells. This communication highlights the potential of the sol-gel chemistry as a cross-linking reaction to develop customized hybrid biomimetic matrices for regenerative medicine.[1]We developed a bottom-up approach based on the synthesis of hybrid silylated blocks that can be combined and engaged in the polymerization process to yield functional gels. Hybrid precursors are obtained by introducing triethoxysilane or hydroxydimethylsilane groups onto (bio)polymers and small molecules. Upon solubilization of precursors in biological media, hydrolysis and condensation reactions occur leading to a covalent bio-inorganic tridimensional network. The method was applied to the preparation of hydrogels based on synthetic polymers (polyethylene glycol),[2] peptides (collagen-inspired),[3,4] polysaccharides (HPMC, hyaluronic acid, chitosan)[5] and, more recently, proteins (gelatin). Interestingly, the sol-gel chemistry is suitable not only for cross-linking the network but also for covalently functionalizing it. Functionalization with bioactive peptides or fluorophores provides additional functionality to the materials such as cell-adhesive or antibacterial properties.[2] We demonstrated that live cells, in particular stem cells, can be encapsulated during the polymerization without affecting their viability and function.[4–6] Cell-laden solutions can be casted or used as bioinks to 3D print porous scaffolds.[5–7] This work paves the way to the design of tailor-made artificial matrices for tissue engineering applications.References1 Montheil. et al. J. Mater. Chem. B, 2018, 6, 3434–3448.2 Echalier. et al. Chem. Mater., 2016, 28, 1261–1265.3 Echalier. et al. Mater. Today, 2017, 20, 59–66.4 Valot. et al. Gels, 2021, 7, 73.5 Montheil. et al. ACS Omega, 2020, 5, 2640–2647.6 Valot. et al. ChemPlusChem, 2019, 84, 1720–1729.7 Echalier. et al. RSC Adv, 2017, 7, 12231–12235.