Visible light crosslinking of methacrylated hyaluronan hydrogels for injectable tissue repair

Abstract Tissue engineering hydrogels are primarily cured in situ using ultraviolet (UV) radiation which limits the use of hydrogels as drug or cell carriers. Visible green light activated crosslinking systems are presented as a safe alternative to UV photocrosslinked hydrogels, without compromising material properties such as viscosity and stiffness. The objective of this study was to fabricate and characterize photocrosslinked hydrogels with well‐regulated gelation kinetics and mechanical properties for the repair or replacement of soft tissue. An anhydrous methacrylation of hyaluronan (HA) was performed to control the degree of modification (DOM) of HA, verified by 1 H‐NMR spectroscopy. UV‐activated crosslinking was compared to visible green light activated crosslinking. While the different photocrosslinking techniques resulted in varied crosslinking times, comparable mechanical properties of UV and green light activated crosslinked hydrogels were achieved using each photocrosslinking method by adjusting time of light exposure. Methacrylated HA (HA‐MA) hydrogels of varying molecular weight, DOM, and concentration exhibited compressive moduli ranging from 1 kPa to 116 kPa, for UV crosslinking, and 3 kPa to 146 kPa, for green light crosslinking. HA‐MA molecular weight and concentration were found to significantly influence moduli values. HA‐MA hydrogels did not exhibit any significant cytotoxic effects toward human mesenchymal stem cells. Green light activated crosslinking systems are presented as a viable method to form natural‐based hydrogels in situ . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 104B: 1229–1236, 2016.