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Nano Research 2024, 17(2): 778-787 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5918-1
Research Article | Issue | Published: 25 July 2023

Hydrogel bioadhesives harnessing nanoscale phase separation for Achilles tendon repairing

Show Author's Information Jun Zhang1,2,§,  Xingmei Chen1,§,  Jingseng Lin1,  Pei Zhang1,  Iek Man Lei1,  Yue Tao1,  Jiajun Zhang1,  Tian Luo3,  Ji Liu1,4,5( )
Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Research and Innovation Center, SKG Health Technology, Shenzhen 518000, China
SAFE (Shenzhen) Medical Technology Company Limited, Shenzhen 518000, China
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Human-Augmentation and Rehabilitation Robotics in Universities, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

§ Jun Zhang and Xingmei Chen contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
robustness, hydrogels, phase separation, bioadhesion, tendon repairing
Topics:
Nano unitNano biology
Cite this article:
Zhang J, Chen X, Lin J, et al. Hydrogel bioadhesives harnessing nanoscale phase separation for Achilles tendon repairing. Nano Research, 2024, 17(2): 778-787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5918-1
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Repairing Achilles tendon has emerged as a long-standing challenge in the orthopaedic surgeries. Although suture is the gold standard for re-attaching and repairing the fractured Achilles tendons in clinical surgeries, it is still subjected to numerous adverse side-effects, including chronic inflammatory, tendon tissue re-rupture, scar formation, and post-surgical peritendinous adhesion. In this work, we develop a class of hydrogel bioadhesives with tailored nanoscale phase separation for Achilles tendon repairing. To address the existing limitations of sutures, our hydrogel bioadhesives encompass three core functionalities: (i) instant and tough adhesion to Achilles tendon tissues, (ii) extraordinary long-term adhesion robustness under wet and dynamic in vivo conditions, and (iii) anti-postsurgical peritendinous adhesion. Combining our hydrogel bioadhesives with sutures, such kind of integrated approach enables a conformable yet robust biointerface with the tendon tissues, and prevents the fibroblast migration and formation of connective tissues, thus facilitating the tendon repairing. The hydrogel bioadhesives reported here open up new opportunities for the repairing of fractured Achilles tendons in diverse and complicated clinical scenarios.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Hydrogel bioadhesives harnessing nanoscale phase separation for Achilles tendon repairing

Show Author's information Jun Zhang1,2,§, Xingmei Chen1,§, Jingseng Lin1, Pei Zhang1, Iek Man Lei1, Yue Tao1, Jiajun Zhang1, Tian Luo3, Ji Liu1,4,5( )
Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Research and Innovation Center, SKG Health Technology, Shenzhen 518000, China
SAFE (Shenzhen) Medical Technology Company Limited, Shenzhen 518000, China
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Human-Augmentation and Rehabilitation Robotics in Universities, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

§ Jun Zhang and Xingmei Chen contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Repairing Achilles tendon has emerged as a long-standing challenge in the orthopaedic surgeries. Although suture is the gold standard for re-attaching and repairing the fractured Achilles tendons in clinical surgeries, it is still subjected to numerous adverse side-effects, including chronic inflammatory, tendon tissue re-rupture, scar formation, and post-surgical peritendinous adhesion. In this work, we develop a class of hydrogel bioadhesives with tailored nanoscale phase separation for Achilles tendon repairing. To address the existing limitations of sutures, our hydrogel bioadhesives encompass three core functionalities: (i) instant and tough adhesion to Achilles tendon tissues, (ii) extraordinary long-term adhesion robustness under wet and dynamic in vivo conditions, and (iii) anti-postsurgical peritendinous adhesion. Combining our hydrogel bioadhesives with sutures, such kind of integrated approach enables a conformable yet robust biointerface with the tendon tissues, and prevents the fibroblast migration and formation of connective tissues, thus facilitating the tendon repairing. The hydrogel bioadhesives reported here open up new opportunities for the repairing of fractured Achilles tendons in diverse and complicated clinical scenarios.

Keywords: robustness, hydrogels, phase separation, bioadhesion, tendon repairing

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 05 May 2023
Revised: 05 June 2023
Accepted: 06 June 2023
Published: 25 July 2023
Issue date: February 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

J. L. acknowledges the financial support by Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Nos. 2022A1515010152 and 2021A1515110735), the Basic Research Program of Shenzhen (Nos. JCYJ20210324105211032 and GJHZ20210705141809030), and the Scientific Research Platforms and Projects of University of Guangdong Provincial Education Office (No. 2022ZDZX3019). This work was also supported in part by the Science, Technology, and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality (No. ZDSYS20200811143601004). The authors also would also like to acknowledge the technical support from SUSTech Core Research Facilities, and also thank Ms. Hui Guo from SUSTech Laboratory Animal Research Center for her generous help during the animal tests.

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