Injectable Gelatin-Polyethylene Glycol Hybrid Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanical Properties for Biomedical Applications
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Injectable gelatin hydrogels have been widely used for tissue engineering due to their minimally invasive implantation and excellent bioactivity. However, their biomedical applications were impeded by the insufficient mechanical properties of gelatin. In this study, we improved the mechanical properties of gelatin hydrogels, by incorporation of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Firstly, we synthesized gelatin–hydroxyphenyl propionic acid (GH) and poly(ethylene glycol)–tyramine (PT). Then, gelatin/PEG hydrogels were fabricated from different ratio of GH and PT, using Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mediated crosslinking reaction. We observed that the compressive strength and elastic modulus of gelatin/PEG hydrogels increased up to 600 kPa and 14kPa, respectively as increasing the PEG content. From the obtained results, we suggest that gelatin/PEG hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties can be used for various biomedical applications.