Clickable decellularized extracellular matrix as a new tool for building hybrid-hydrogels to model chronic fibrotic diseases in vitro. Issue 31 (28th April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Petrou, Cassandra L.; D'Ovidio, Tyler J.; Bölükbas, Deniz A.; Tas, Sinem; Brown, R. Dale; Allawzi, Ayed; Lindstedt, Sandra; Nozik-Grayck, Eva; Stenmark, Kurt R.; Wagner, Darcy E.; Magin, Chelsea M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 8:Issue 31(2020)
• Page Start: 6814
• Page End: 6826
• Publication Date: 2020-04-28
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/d0tb00613k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-750X

Abstract

Abstract : Hydrolytically stable, phototunable hybrid-hydrogels containing clickable decellularized extracellular matrix enable spatiotemporal control over fibroblast activation. Abstract : Fibrotic disorders account for over one third of mortalities worldwide. Despite great efforts to study the cellular and molecular processes underlying fibrosis, there are currently few effective therapies. Dual-stage polymerization reactions are an innovative tool for recreating heterogeneous increases in extracellular matrix (ECM) modulus, a hallmark of fibrotic diseases in vivo . Here, we present a clickable decellularized ECM (dECM) crosslinker incorporated into a dynamically responsive poly(ethylene glycol)-α-methacrylate (PEGαMA) hybrid-hydrogel to recreate ECM remodeling in vitro . An off-stoichiometry thiol–ene Michael addition between PEGαMA (8-arm, 10 kg mol −1 ) and the clickable dECM resulted in hydrogels with an elastic modulus of E = 3.6 ± 0.24 kPa, approximating healthy lung tissue (1–5 kPa). Next, residual αMA groups were reacted via a photo-initiated homopolymerization to increase modulus values to fibrotic levels ( E = 13.4 ± 0.82 kPa) in situ . Hydrogels with increased elastic moduli, mimicking fibrotic ECM, induced a significant increase in the expression of myofibroblast transgenes. The proportion of primary fibroblasts from dual-reporter mouse lungs expressing collagen 1a1 and alpha-smooth muscle actin increased by approximately 60% when cultured on stiff and dynamically stiffened hybrid-hydrogels compared to soft. Likewise, fibroblasts expressed significantly increased levels of the collagen 1a1 transgene on stiff regions of spatially patterned hybrid-hydrogels compared to the soft areas. Collectively, these results indicate that hybrid-hydrogels are a new tool that can be implemented to spatiotemporally induce a phenotypic transition in primary murine fibroblasts in vitro .