Soy Protein Isolate/Sodium Alginate Hybrid Hydrogel Embedded with Hydroxyapatite for Tissue Engineering

The hydrogels have received increasing attention in tissue regeneration to provide the progressive needs for organ regeneration. This study aimed to formulate Soy protein (S) isolated/Alginate (A)/Hydroxyapatite (HA) (SAHA) composite hydrogel for application in tissue engineering. Biopolymer-based hybrid hydrogels have advantages including biocompatibility and biodegradability which are critical for biomedical application. While, these hydrogels demonstrate poor mechanical properties that limited their uses. So, HA (one of the most extensively utilized inorganic materials) is employed as reinforcement agent to improve the biopolymer based hydrogels. The effects of HA on properties of hydrogel scaffolds, such as morphology, porosity, thermal stability, swelling ratio, degradation behavior, rheological properties, and biocompatibility were investigated. The results indicated that HA successfully enhanced storage modulus of formulated hydrogel from 10(3) to 10(4) Pa, that reinforced the hydrogel network. In fact, the inclusion of HA has compressed the structure of the hydrogel network, and decreased porosity (about 60%), degradation degree (about 40%), as well as swelling ratio (about 90%). On the other hand, it has increased the thermal stability and compressive strength of the formulated hydrogel with increasing HA concentration. Additionally, cell viability assessment of the formulated hydrogels displayed no cytotoxicity for osteoblast (MC3T3-E1 cell line). Based on the obtained results, the encapsulation of HA into the biopolymer based hydrogel improved the efficiency of composite hydrogels that are helpful in tissue engineering applications.