Preparation and characterization of biocompatible elastin-like polypeptide(ELP) hydrogel prepared by electron beam crosslinking

Abstract

Elastin-like polypeptide (ELP), an artificial repeating peptide derived from elastin, has been studied as a drug delivery system and tissue engineering. it is a temperature sensitive biopolymer that exhibits lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior, forming insoluble coacervate similar to tropoelastin at temperatures above the transition temperature (Tt). However, ELP coacervate has the problem of low mechanical strength, so there needs to be crosslinked. Chemical crosslinking has the advantage of improving mechanical strength, but has a problem of low biocompatibility. In this study, a hydrogel was manufactured through electron beam crosslinking technology to improve the mechanical strength of ELP with LCST characteristics. Sites capable of crosslinking reactions were not added to the ELP, and radiation doses of 25, 50, 75, and 100 kGy electron beams were used without additional chemical crosslinking agents. The chemical structure analysis of the ELP hydrogel prepared through electron beam irradiation was performed using XPS and FT-IR. In addition, the crosslinking properties were determined through gelation rate, swelling ratio, SEM, compressive strength, and rheological analysis. The biocompatibility of ELP was confirmed through the CCK-8 assay.