Hyaluronic acid cryogels with non-cytotoxic crosslinker genipin

For the first time, macroporous, elastic, three-dimensional hyaluronic acid cryogels were prepared with genipin as non-cytotoxic crosslinking agent. These cryogels are characterized by a lamellar porous structure with a homogeneous pore size of similar to 100 mu m, shear elasticity of similar to 2 kPa and a swelling ratio of 2.5 in water. Additionally, multiple particle tracking based microrheology measurements reveal the formation of a heterogeneous network. This novel biomaterial owns great potential as non-cytotoxic alternative for application in drug delivery, as tissue engineering scaffold or wound healing substrate and can help reducing toxicity of artificial skin grafts or tissue equivalents. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.