Chitosan hydrogel formation using laccase activated phenolics as cross-linkers

Chitosan hydrogels are gaining increasing interest for biomedical applications due to attractive properties such as biocompatibility. In order to replace toxic chemical cross-linkers for hydrogel formation, we investigated the cross-linking potential of laccase oxidized phenolics. HPLC-TOF-MS and ATR-FTIR demonstrated that phenolics were bond to glucosamine as chitosan model substrate. Phenolics concentrations required for hydrogel formation varied from 500 μM for catechol to 5000 μM for sinapic acid. The hydrogels showed different swelling and release properties assessed using methylene blue release as a model. Laccase oxidized caffeic acid and pyrogallol-chitosan hydrogels showed excellent behavior in up-taking water with a swelling of 208.7% for caffeic acid. Biocompatibility results did not show any significant inhibition of growth of HEK293 cell line when phenolics like catechol or eugenol were used. Therefore, this study demonstrates that laccase oxidized phenolics are potential cross-linking agents of chitosan as a novel green approach to synthesizing chitosan hydrogels.