Since there are few effective treatments and a high likelihood of reoperation, treating articular disease clinically has long puzzled medical professors and researchers. Tissue engineering is an innovative approach to this problem that uses scaffolds with optimal mechanical properties to provide the appropriate microenvironment for rebuilding or replacing damaged areas. To stimulate the regeneration of tissues, the materials used to build the scaffolds must conform to the following traits: simple manipulation, great mechanical strength, incredible biocompatibility, and internal capacity. In view of the above, the researchers devised a mechanobiological double-network (DN) hydrogel (CS-PAA), using a straightforward ultraviolet radiation technique that involved short-chain chitosan (CS) covalently bonding with polyacrylic acid (PAA) in solutions. Due to the strong physical interaction between the carboxyl groups in PAA polymers and the CS chain-entanglement network, the CS-PAA DN hydrogel demonstrated remarkable mechanical properties, including high tensile strength, compressibility, and rheological properties. Furthermore, vitro biological research showed that the CS-PAA DN hydrogel may facilitate the activity and proliferation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs'), and promote tissue healing. Consequently, the soaking technique described in this study can be used to create mechanical bioactive scaffolds that have the potential to increase their bio-applicability, while offering the benefits of long-lasting biological function and mechanical support. This will promote tissue-engineered hydrogel scaffolds to reach a higher level of development.

Haotian Liu, Tianyi Liu, Xinran Cheng, Yihong Sun, Letao Li, Mingbo Li. Simple fabrication strategy toward mechanobiological double-network hydrogel for construction of tissue engineering scaffolds. Academic Journal of Materials & Chemistry(2025), Vol. 6, Issue 1: 66-72. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJMC.2025.060108.

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