Alginate Hydrogels with Tunable Degradation

Hydrogels have found utility as both tissue scaffolds and cell delivery vehicles. As tissue engineering scaffolds, they provide physical and biochemical cues that guide tissue remodeling processes. Degradation of the gel over time is a desirable material property that allows for the complete integration of imbued cells with the native tissue. Here, novel alginate-based hydrogels with tunable degradability were formulated by synthesizing diblock polymers with a degradable domain. Alginate and poly(D, L-lactic acid) (PLA) of varying molecular weights were end-modified using bio-orthogonal chemistry and linked covalently to form alginate-b-PLA diblock polymers. These polymers retained both the ionic-cross-linking properties of alginate and the hydrolytic degradation properties of PLA. The hydrogel degradation rate was determined by the size of the constituent domains as well as the diblock content in blended gels and enabled the tunable, temporal release of encapsulated cells. This material platform is useful where tunable degradation is advantageous, such as in regenerative medicine or drug delivery.