Authors:

Mihika Desai

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About Paper:

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death globally, characterized by myocardial tissue necrosis and fibrotic scarring. Post- infarction remodeling and wall thinning often lead to heart failure. Minimally invasive biomaterial therapeutics offer promise for tissue repair by mechanically reinforcing the myocardium. Acellular hydrogels are ideally suited for this purpose but often have limited porosity and injectability. This study explores an injectable and microporous granular hydrogel system assembled using hyaluronic acid microparticles. Microgels were fabricated using norbornene-functionalized hyaluronic acid (NorHA) with a flow-focusing microfluidic device and crosslinking using 20 mW/cm^2 UV light. Microgels were imaged via light and fluorescence microscopy after washing with phosphate-buffered saline. Granular hydrogels were assembled at low and high packing densities using centrifugation (12,000 RCF) and vacuum filtration, respectively. Granular hydrogels were characterized using oscillatory shear rheology, including strain sweeps (0.5 - 500%), recovery tests, and rotational viscosity measurements to evaluate mechanical behavior, injectability, and recovery after yielding. Covalently crosslinked microgels were successfully fabricated with a mean diameter of 91 +/- 9 µm. Jamming of these particles produced granular hydrogels. Ongoing experiments aim to evaluate how packing density influences rheological behavior and injectability, and to assess in vivo tissue responses in a mouse model. We hypothesize that increased packing will modulate shear-thinning and self-healing properties, as well as alter storage modulus and yield strain. Overall, this project explores the potential of injectable and microporous granular hydrogels as a biomaterial therapeutic for potential applications in MI treatment. Keywords: [no keywords provided]

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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Co-authors:

Mihika Desai