====== Hybrid Gelatin Hydrogel ======

[[Gelatin]]-based [[hydrogel]]s are often incorporated with supporting materials such as [[chitosan]], poly(vinyl alcohol), [[alginate]], carbon nanotubes, and [[hyaluronic acid]]. These hybrid materials are specifically of interest in diversified nanomedicine fields as they exhibit unique physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. The applications include drug delivery, wound healing, cell culture, and tissue engineering.
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Chiang et al. developed a hierarchical hybrid [[gelatin]] [[methacrylate]]-microcapsule [[hydrogel]] (HGMH) with [[Neurotrophin]]-3(NT-3)-loaded PLGA microcapsules to fabricate [[anisotropic]] structure with patterned NT-3 distribution (demonstrated as striped and triangular patterns) by dielectrophoresis (DEP). The HGMH provides a dynamic biomimetic sinuate-microwrinkles change with NT-3 spatial gradient and 2-stage time-dependent distribution, which was further simulated using a 3D finite element model. As demonstrated, in comparison with striped-patterned hydrogel, the triangular-patterned HGMH with highly anisotropic array of microcapsules exhibits remarkably spatial NT-3 gradient distributions that can not only guide [[neural stem cell]]s (NSCs) migration but also facilitate [[spinal cord injury]] [[regeneration]]. This approach to constructing a hierarchical 4D hydrogel system via an electromicrofluidic platform demonstrates the potential for building various biomimetic soft scaffolds in vitro tailed to real soft tissues
((Chiang MY, Cheng HW, Lo YC, Wang WC, Chang SJ, Cheng CH, Lin YC, Lu HE, Sue MW, Tsou NT, Lo YC, Li SJ, Kuo CH, Chen YY, Huang WC, Chen SY. 4D spatiotemporal modulation of biomolecules distribution in anisotropic corrugated microwrinkles via electrically manipulated microcapsules within hierarchical hydrogel for spinal cord regeneration. Biomaterials. 2021 Mar 20;271:120762. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120762. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33773400.))