The behavior of insulin encapsulation within collagen-based hydrogels was investigated to explore their potential for biomedical applications. Incorporating insulin into the hydrogel matrix significantly influenced both structural and functional properties. Increasing the insulin content up to 60 µg per gel accelerated the gelation process and enhanced the swelling capacity, reaching values of up to 3800%. However, optimal crosslinking was observed at lower insulin content (15 µg), suggesting the formation of stabilizing urea-type interactions during simultaneous crosslinking with a bioactive polyurethane component. Morphological analysis revealed that insulin incorporation led to smoother and less porous surfaces, indicating a more compact network structure. Mechanically, insulin-loaded hydrogels exhibited improved resistance, sustaining deformation up to 18% under 3.2 million fatigue cycles, highlighting their durability under repetitive stress conditions. Higher insulin concentrations (30–60 µg) promoted a superabsorbent behavior, with swelling values ranging from 3500% to 5600%, strongly dependent on pH conditions and notably enhanced at skin-relevant pH. In addition, the presence of insulin improved resistance to both hydrolytic degradation and enzymatic biodegradation in the presence of pepsin, with the highest stability observed at 60 µg. The materials demonstrated good hemocompatibility and showed controlled surface erosion upon exposure to simulated body fluids. Interestingly, hydroxyapatite deposition was detected through Alizarin Red staining, with a qualitative increase at higher insulin contents, suggesting potential bioactivity toward mineralization processes. Overall, these findings highlight the multifunctional role of insulin beyond its therapeutic activity, acting as a structural and bioactive modulator in collagen-based hydrogels, opening new opportunities for advanced biomedical applications.
Imelda G Contreras-Aguero, Lesly Katleya Usme-Duque, D. A. Cabrera-Munguia et al.· Asian Journal of Basic Scien...· 0 citations
Chronic wounds constitute a major clinical and socioeconomic burden owing to prolonged inflammation, persistent bacterial infection, impaired angiogenesis, and defective extracellular matrix remodeling. Advanced wound dressings have traditionally been developed to promote tissue regeneration, control bacterial infection, and restore the wound microenvironment. Recent advances have focused on multifunctional biomaterials integrating regenerative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and controlled drug-delivery properties. Within this context, antiviral biointerface engineering has emerged as a promising, although still exploratory, materials-engineering perspective rather than an established function of wound dressings. Hydrogel–metal–organic framework (MOF) hybrid polymer composites have emerged as versatile platforms for multifunctional wound dressings. Hydrogels provide hydrated three-dimensional matrices with tunable porosity, swelling behavior, mechanical compliance, and biocompatibility, whereas MOFs contribute high surface area, adjustable pore architectures, chemically tailorable active sites, and controlled ion release. Their integration generates synergistic systems whose performance is governed by structure–function relationships involving polymer crosslinking density, MOF dispersion, pore hierarchy, interfacial adhesion, swelling dynamics, and surface functionalization. Collectively, these parameters regulate mass transport, mechanical stability, therapeutic delivery, and cytocompatibility while potentially influencing virus–material interactions through engineered biointerfaces. Current evidence indicates that direct experimental demonstrations of antiviral performance in hydrogel–MOF wound dressing systems remain limited. Accordingly, antiviral biointerface functions should be regarded as emerging engineering opportunities requiring further experimental validation before clinical translation. This review critically analyzes the structure–function engineering principles governing hydrogel–MOF hybrid systems and examines how established regenerative functions may be integrated with emerging antiviral biointerface concepts. Unlike previous reviews focused primarily on drug delivery, antibacterial activity, or tissue engineering, this review emphasizes the relationships between polymer architecture, MOF chemistry, interfacial design, and transport phenomena while explicitly distinguishing experimentally supported evidence from prospective mechanistic concepts. Particular attention is given to current limitations, translational challenges, and future directions for the rational design of next-generation multifunctional hydrogel–MOF wound dressings.
Irving A. González-Lara, Nallely G. Hernández-Hernández, L. K. Usme-Duque et al.· Gels· 0 citations
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