Infiltration and sustenance of viability of cells by amphiphilic biosynthetic biodegradable hydrogels.

Amphiphilic biosynthetic hydrogels comprising natural polysaccharide alginate (I) and synthetic polyester polypropylene fumarate (II) units were prepared by crosslinking the copolymer of I and II with calcium ion and vinyl monomers viz, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl methacrylate (BMA) and N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide (NMBA). Three fast degradable hydrogels, ALPF-MMA, ALPF-HEMA and ALPF-BMA and one slow degradable hydrogel ALPF-NMBA were prepared. These hydrogels are amphiphilic and able to hold sufficient amount of proteins on their surfaces. All these hydrogels are found to be hemocompatible, cytocompatible and genocompatible. ALPF-NMBA promotes infiltration of L929 fibroblasts and 3D growth of H9c2 cardiomyoblasts and long-term viability.