Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
D
-fructose (4370 M
-1
)
D
-glucose (110 M
-1
). From these
results, it was confirmed that the PMBV/PVA hydrogel was formed under
biological conditions, and that the reversible properties of the hydrogel corres-
ponded to the formation of a complex between the phenylboronic acid group in
PMBV and the diol moiety in PVA.
D
-galactose (276 M
-1
)
>
>
4 Cells in PMBV/PVA Hydrogels
4.1 Encapsulation Technique
PMBV and PVA can spontaneously form a hydrogel without using any cross-
linkers. Even in cell culture conditions, the gelation can be confirmed. Therefore,
it was possible to encapsulate cells in the PMBV/PVA hydrogel. The encapsulation
method is illustrated in Fig.
6
.
The encapsulation technique was briefly as follows: L929 fibroblast cells were
suspended in 5 wt% of PMBV solution dissolved in the culture medium. The
PMBV solution containing the cells and 2.5 wt% of PVA solution were equally
mixed, and the PMBV/PVA hydrogel containing L929 cells was formed. The
PMBV/PVA hydrogel immobilizing the cells was stored in an incubator. After
72 h, 0.2 M of
D
-fructose solution was added to the PMBV/PVA hydrogel to
Fig. 6 Cell encapsulation using PMBV/PVA hydrogel
