Swelling, Protein Adsorption, and Biocompatibility of Pectin–Chitosan Hydrogels
Sergey Popov,
Nikita Paderin,
Elizaveta Chistiakova,
Alisa Sokolova,
Ilya V. Konyshev,
Vladislav S. Belozerov,
Andrey A. Byvalov
Affiliations
Sergey Popov
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Nikita Paderin
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Elizaveta Chistiakova
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Alisa Sokolova
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Ilya V. Konyshev
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Vladislav S. Belozerov
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
Andrey A. Byvalov
Institute of Physiology of Federal Research Centre “Komi Science Centre of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, 50 Pervomaiskaya Str., 167982 Syktyvkar, Russia
The study aims to determine how chitosan impacts pectin hydrogel’s ability to attach peritoneal leukocytes, activate complement, induce hemolysis, and adsorb blood proteins. The hydrogels PEC-Chi0, PEC-Chi25, PEC-Chi50, and PEC-Chi75 were prepared by placing a mixture solution of 4% pectin and 4% chitosan in a ratio of 4:0, 3:1, 2:2, and 1:3 in a solution of 1.0 M CaCl2. Chitosan was found to modify the mechanical properties of pectin–calcium hydrogels, such as hardness and cohesiveness-to-adhesiveness ratio. Chitosan in the pectin–calcium hydrogel caused pH-sensitive swelling in Hanks’ solution. The PEC-Chi75 hydrogel was shown to adsorb serum proteins at pH 7.4 to a greater extent than other hydrogels. PEC-Chi75’s strong adsorption capacity was related to lower peritoneal leukocyte adherence to its surface when compared to other hydrogels, showing improved biocompatibility. Using the optical tweezers approach, it was shown that the force of interaction between pectin–chitosan hydrogels and plasma proteins increased from 10 to 24 pN with increasing chitosan content from 0 to 75%. Thus, the properties of pectin–calcium hydrogel, which determine interactions with body tissues after implantation, are improved by the addition of chitosan, making pectin–chitosan hydrogel a promising candidate for smart biomaterial development.
