| The goal of tissue engineering is to assemble functional constructs that restore, maintain, or improve damaged
tissues or organs. Hydrogels formed with natural polymers display high potential in artificial scaffolds for tissue
repair as they can resemble the extracellular matrices. Thus, the aim of this study was to design nanocomposite
hydrogels of chitosan/oxidized-modified quince seed gum/curcumin-loaded in halloysite nanotubes (CS/OXQSG/CUR-HNTs) for tissue engineering applications. The produced hydrogels were analyzed for thermal stability,
degradation, swelling ratio, gelling time and mechanical properties. The results showed that with increasing content of OX-QSG, thermal stability, swelling ratio, and degradation rate of hydrogels were improved. Notably, the
optimal CS/OX-QSG hydrogel with ratio of 25:75 exhibited rapid gelation behavior (<50 s) and improved compressive strength (3.96 ± 0.64 MPa), representing the suitable hydrogel for application in tissue engineering. The
MTT test showed that these hydrogels were non-toxic and any reduction or stop of NIH-3 T3 cells growth wasn't
observed over time. In addition, CS/OX-QSG 25:75 hydrogels containing CUR-HNTs with 10 and 30% content was
significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced cell growth and proliferation (around 150%). Obtained results illustrated that
CS/OX-QSG hydrogels with ratio of 25:75 and the content of 30% CUR-HNTs can be an effective scaffold for application in tissue engineering. |