Arvind Sridhar
Stony Brook University, USA
Title: Synthesis and Application of Nanoscale Graphene Oxide-Doped Gelatin Hydrogels as Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery
Biography
Biography: Arvind Sridhar
Abstract
As the fields of tissue engineering and drug delivery move closer to clinical applications, challenges of engineering inexpensive scaffolds with biomimetic properties persist. To address these issues, previous studies have synthesized water-swollen, cross-linked hydrogels; however, the gels’ weak mechanical properties limited their viability. The discovery of versatile nanoscale graphene oxide (nGO) has opened up avenues for hydrogels to overcome these limitations and demonstrate enhanced structural stability, biocompatibility and physiological viability. This study engineered cross-linked, nGO-doped gelatin hydrogels and characterized them through rheology, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle and thermogravimetric analysis. The nGO-doped hydrogels exhibited a stiffer structure (~17.9 kPa elastic modulus) with increased biocompatibility and water retention capacity. Then, nGO was observed to selectively suppress the growth of cancerous (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) keratinocytes, and the nGO-doped hydrogels showed potential as drug delivery vehicles for selective and localized cancer therapy. Additionally, the gels both supported the growth and proliferation of normal keratinocytes and prevented dermal fibroblasts from adhering, indicating their ability to serve as anti-fibrotic tissue engineering scaffolds. Finally, the gels were applied as drug delivery vehicles and exhibited enhanced loading and sustained release of curcumin, a potent therapeutic known to combat a range of cancers, infections, and inflammation. Ultimately, this study proposed nGO-doped gelatin hydrogels as easy-to-synthesize and cost-effective vectors for novel scaffold-based disease therapy, with the potential to overcome the issues faced by current treatment practices.