Photocrosslinkable poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels for tissue engineering cartilage

Photopolymerizable hydrogels are attractive for tissue-engineered applications because of their high water content, tissue-like mechanical properties, and ability to be polymerized in vivo under physiological conditions. We are interested in using photocrosslinkable macromers of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEG) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to encapsulate chondrocytes for cartilage tissue regeneration. Our aim is to optimize the network composition and structure to facilitate regeneration of type-specific cartilage in a hydrogel that will temporarily withstand the normal loads of natural cartilage. We have demonstrated that cartilage produced in two hydrogel systems resulted in 6.7/spl plusmn/1.2% (PVA) and 1.5/spl plusmn/0.8% (PEG) total glycosaminoglycans and 2.5/spl plusmn/2% (PVA) and 6.5/spl plusmn/0.7% (PEG) total collagen per wet weight of cartilage after 6 and 7 weeks, respectively.