Preliminary design of a chemically crosslinked hydrogel for 3D in vitro models

Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymeric networks with high water content currently employed as carriers for various biomolecules, as injectable biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and as scaffolds for 3D cell cultures. In this study, a heterobifunctional linker molecule (succinimidyl-4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylate, SMCC) is exploited to covalently crosslink collagen and hyaluronic acid to obtain a hybrid hydrogel suitable both for developing 3D in vitro models and for regenerative medicine purposes.