We will focus on the formulation of self-healing and responsive hydrogels using biopolymers with cell-interacting properties. The properties of the hydrogels will be tuned in order to use them in wound dressing materials obtained by additive manufacturing. The final wound dressings will allow the release of multiple therapeutic agents, while providing proper static and dynamic mechanics to reduce tissue irritation and cell growth restriction. 

cfGel-based wound dressing materials

Cold water fish gelatin has recently emerged as a promising cell-interactive biopolymers, owing to its lower gelling and melting temperatures than its mammalian counterparts. This allows for dissolution and processing at ambient temperatures, as well as a low immunogenicity and risk of disease transmission in combination with fewer sociocultural concerns regarding its use. Furthermore, due to molecular features such as the lower content of proline and hydroxyproline in cfGel compared to mammalian gelatin, the molecular mobility of polypeptides between hydrogel crosslinking points of cfGel has been found to be higher than that of the latter, representing an important factor for improving cell-matrix remodeling rates and facilitating stem cell migration in gelatin hydrogels. We are actively working on cfGel-based materials, including injectable hydrogel, electrospun nanofiber meshes, microfluidic wet-spun microfibers, and 3D printed scaffolds. Such cfGel materials can be processed into nanoporous hydrogels, microporous aerogels, as well as macroporous cryogels, thus providing a multi-scale gel material platform for the development hierarchical wound dressings.