Konjac glucomannan photocrosslinked hydrogels for in vitro 3D cell culture

Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is an attractive naturally-derived polysaccharide commercially available for use in food industry, but with limited application in tissue engineering (TE) as a standalone polymer. We successfully purified and chemically modified KGM, developing innovative covalently crosslinked, fast-forming and degradable KGM hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties for 3D cell culture. Human dermal fibroblasts embedded in KGM matrices remained viable and metabolically active, supporting its good biocompatibility. We further innovated by grafting a bioactive peptide to KGM backbone applying two different chemical approaches, one of them culminating in the synthesis of a novel pH-responsive KGM derivative. Cells embedded in biofunctionalized KGM hydrogels were able to adhere, spread and establish cell-to-cell interactions, encouraging the formation of a cellular network. This work reports different chemical approaches for targeting the fabrication of bioactive KGM-derived hydrogels for 3D cell culture and compares the biological performance of obtained KGM's covalent and semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (SIPN). These results will pave the way for further exploitation of KGM in TE, where it has been commonly applied as blended scaffold formulations rather than as stable extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimicking materials.