Designing nanofibrillar cellulose peptide conjugated polymeric hydrogel scaffold for controlling cellular behaviour

Hydrogels based on protein and polysaccharides have ameliorated the arena of tissue regeneration, and other healthcare applications. We report for the first time a new class of conjugated hydrogel based on carbohydrate polymer consisting of biomass derived nanocellulose and collagen inspired complementary ionic peptides. Interestingly, these conjugate hydrogels were constructed via simple non-covalent interactions. The synthetic strategy utilized TEMPO oxidized cellulose nanofibers which presented the anionic surface charge, and thus offer the scope of electrostatic interactions with the oppositely charged moieties of peptides. Further, these biomolecular hydrogel constructs were explored towards cellular studies in order to develop a superior replica of native extracellular matrix. Interestingly, differential cellular response could be induced in such novel biopolymeric matrix by judicious tuning of the intermolecular interactions to fabricate suitable matrix with variable physical properties, like, porosity, mechanical stiffness etc. Tunable porous network of these conjugated biopolymeric hydrogels stabilized by combination of CH/π, hydrogen bonding interactions along with electrostatic interactions between the cellulose and collagen mimetic peptides present a scaffold that successfully mimic the merits of the native extracellular matrix by combing peptide and sugar leading to significant cellular adhesion, growth, and proliferation. Interestingly, these combined scaffolds supported cellular behaviour of both fibroblast as well as neural cells, highlighting the diversities of these conjugate hydrogel.