Incorporation of Oxidized Pectin to Reinforce Collagen/Konjac Glucomannan Hydrogels Designed for Tissue Engineering Applications

Injectable hydrogels have been widely studied for the use as scaffolds or as carriers of therapeutic agents including proteins, cells, drugs, and bioactive molecules in the disease treatment and the regeneration and repair of tissues. Collagen-based hydrogels and pectin that mimic the extracellular matrix are generally applied to maintain the balance between physical and biofunctional features. In this study, preparation and characterization of novel hydrogels based on oxidized-konjac glucomannan (OKG), collagen, and oxidized-pectin (OP) have been successfully developed. Fabricated hydrogels were evaluated for their morphological, degradation, thermal stability, and mechanical properties. The physicochemical properties of OKG/collagen hydrogels without pectin (HG) or with pectin (HGP) and oxidized-pectin (HGOP) were studied. The results presented that with the addition of the OP content, the hydrogels degradation behavior and mechanical properties were improved. In addition, HGOP hydrogels enhanced the cell proliferation without any cytotoxic effect on mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells. These achieved results suggested that the developed hydrogel could be a suitable candidate to be applied for tissue engineering scaffolds.