Repurposing Protein Aggregation into a Biofunctional BMP-2-Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel for Sustained Drug Release and Accelerated Wound Healing

Abstract

Hydrogels have wide biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradable and certain mechanical property. Drug delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering, corneal prostheses etc. are the prominent biomedical applications of hydrogel. In the current study explored a hydrogel incorporating of hyaluronic acid in unfolded aggregated bone morphogenetic protein-2 network for its potential biomedical applications. Incorporation of the hyaluronic acid in the BMP-2 network showed dramatic change in the properties like pore size, water holding capacity, hemocompatibility, cytotoxicity etc. The hyaluronic acid and BMP-2 composite hydrogel showed a dramatically better pore size than the hydrogel made only of BMP-2, with pores about 15 µm in size. Besides, the composite hydrogel also displayed a greatly increased water retention capacity compared to the BMP-2 only hydrogel. This improvement is due to the presence of hyaluronic acid, which is in the BMP-2 matrix and affects the gelation behavior. Consequently, the BMP-2/HA hydrogel displayed reduced gelation, highlighting the role of hyaluronic acid in modulating the hydrogel's structural properties. The BMP-2/HA composite hydrogel exhibited superior hemocompatibility and lesser toxicity compared to the BMP-2-only hydrogel. It showed a sustained release of the antibiotics. This features are really important for wound healing and tissue regeneration. Interestingly, a study on wound healing with Drosophila showed that a BMP-2/HA hydrogel helped a wound close 40-45% faster rate than a BMP-2 hydrogel. This remarkable improvement in healing time clearly demonstrates that the BMP, 2/HA composite hydrogel has great potential for future medical uses.