Hydrogels for lung tissue engineering: Biomechanical properties of thin collagen–elastin constructs

Dunphy, Siobhán E.; Bratt, Jessica A.J.; Akram, Khondoker M.; Forsyth, Nicholas R.; El Haj, Alicia J.

Abstract

In this study, collagen–elastin constructs were prepared with the aim of producing a material capable of mimicking the mechanical properties of a single alveolar wall. Collagen has been used in a wide range of tissue engineering applications; however, due to its low mechanical properties its use is limited to non load-bearing applications without further manipulation using methods such as cross-linking or mechanical compression. Here, it was hypothesised that the addition of soluble elastin to a collagen hydrogel could improve its mechanical properties. Hydrogels made from collagen only and collagen plus varying amounts elastin were prepared. Young׳s modulus of each membrane was measured using the combination of a non-destructive indentation and a theoretical model previously described. An increase in Young׳s modulus was observed with increasing concentration of elastin. The use of non-destructive indentation allowed for online monitoring of the elastic moduli of cell-seeded constructs over 8 days. The addition of lung fibroblasts into the membrane increased the stiffness of the hydrogels further and cell-seeded collagen hydrogels were found to have a stiffness equal to the theoretical value for a single alveolar wall (≈5 kPa). Through provision of some of the native extracellular matrix components of the lung parenchyma these scaffolds may be able to provide an initial building block toward the regeneration of new functional lung tissue.

Citation

Dunphy, S. E., Bratt, J. A., Akram, K. M., Forsyth, N. R., & El Haj, A. J. (2014). Hydrogels for lung tissue engineering: Biomechanical properties of thin collagen–elastin constructs. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 38, 251-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2014.04.005

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2014-10
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Journal: Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
• Print ISSN: 1751-6161
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Pages: 251-259
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2014.04.005
• Keywords: Mechanics of Materials; Biomedical Engineering; Biomaterials
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Hydrogels for lung tissue engineering: Biomechanical properties of thin collagen–elastin constructs; Journal Title: Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2014.04.005; Content Type: article; Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.