Hydrogel containing hyaluronan and aliphatic oligo-carbonate moieties with tunable physical properties for potential application in protein release

Hyaluronan (HA) and aliphatic oligo-carbonate based biodegradable hydrogels were synthesized via photopolymerization of a methacrylated HA (HA-GMA) with oligo(2,2-dimethyltrimethylene carbonate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block -oligo(2,2-dimethyltrimethylene carbonate) diacrylate (DPD-DA). Hydrogels with tunable physical properties such as swelling behavior, crosslink density, and mesh size were fabricated with different concentrations of HA-GMA or DPD-DA. Hydrogel–bovine serum albumin (BSA) construct was prepared by in situ photopolymerization. BSA release from the construct was evaluated in vitro and the release behavior can be controlled by adjusting the concentration of the precursors. By tailoring the concentration of different precursors in the hydrogels, more sustained release of BSA can be achieved (i.e., 120 h). The cytotoxicity of this novel hydrogel was also investigated and the hydrogel proved to be comparably cytocompatible to PEG hydrogels.