Perfluorocarbon functionalized hyaluronic acidderivatives as oxygenating systems for cell culture

A set of new hyaluronic acid (HA) derivatives was obtained by binding fluorinated oxadiazole (OXA) moietiesto an amino derivative of the polysaccharide (HA-EDA). The obtained HA-EDA-OXA biomaterials arepotentially able to improve oxygenation into a scaffold for tissue engineering purposes. The oxygensolubility in aqueous dispersions of the obtained derivatives showed that polymers were able to improveoxygen uptake and maintenance in the medium. The HA-EDA-OXA was employed to form a hydrogelin situ by reaction with a vinyl sulphone derivative of inulin, under physiological conditions. The influenceof the presence of OXA moieties on the mechanical properties of the obtained hydrogels as well as onthe metabolic activity of incorporated primary fibroblasts was investigated. The produced HA-EDA-OXAbiomaterials were able to promote cell growth under hypoxic conditions.