Readily prepared dynamic hydrogels by combining phenyl boronic acid- and maltose-modified anionic polysaccharides at neutral pH.

Dynamic covalent hydrogels are facilely prepared from biocompatible polysaccharides in physiological conditions by the formation of phenylboronate ester cross-links. This is based on the simple mixing of carboxylate-containing polysaccharides (i.e.

Thiol-ene clickable hyaluronans: from macro-to nanogels.

The fabrication of hyaluronic acid (HA) nanogels using a thiol-ene reaction has been demonstrated. HA was modified with pentenoate groups and then cross-linked with poly(ethylene glycol)-bis(thiol) by exposure to UV light. The cross-linking density and thereby the rigidity of the obtained gels were precisely controlled by the degree of substitution of pentenoate-modified HA.

Photochemical crosslinking of hyaluronic acid confined in nanoemulsions: towards nanogels with a controlled structure.

We present the preparation of nanogels made of hyaluronic acid (HA) with a well-controlled structure. To this end, HA precursors with polymerizable methacrylate groups (HA-MA) were confined within water-in-oil nanoemulsion droplets as nanoreactors and further photopolymerized under UV. Particular attention was paid to the preparation of a stable nanoemulsion template with a homogeneous droplet size.

Design of biomimetic cell-interactive substrates using hyaluronic acid hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural polysaccharide abundant in biological tissues with excellent potential for constructing synthetic extracellular matrix analogues. In this work, we established a simple and dependable approach to prepare hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels with controlled stiffness and cell recognition properties for use as cell-interactive substrates. This approach relied on a new procedure for the synthesis of methacrylate-modified HA macromers (HA-MA) and, on photorheometry allowing real time monitoring of gelation during photopolymerization.