Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties

A novel hydrogel, containing two gellan gums with different acyl content crosslinked with tannic acid and magnesium ions, was proposed as cartilage substitute. In addition to crosslinking, tannic acid was employed as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound. The analytical characterization of t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Francesco Busto, Alessandro C. Scalia, Piergiorgio Gentile, Sofia Toniolo, Stefania Cometa, Stefano Liotino, Andrea Cochis, Piero Mastrorilli, Elvira De Giglio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666893925001987
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850103240639643648
author Francesco Busto
Alessandro C. Scalia
Piergiorgio Gentile
Sofia Toniolo
Stefania Cometa
Stefano Liotino
Andrea Cochis
Piero Mastrorilli
Elvira De Giglio
author_facet Francesco Busto
Alessandro C. Scalia
Piergiorgio Gentile
Sofia Toniolo
Stefania Cometa
Stefano Liotino
Andrea Cochis
Piero Mastrorilli
Elvira De Giglio
author_sort Francesco Busto
collection DOAJ
description A novel hydrogel, containing two gellan gums with different acyl content crosslinked with tannic acid and magnesium ions, was proposed as cartilage substitute. In addition to crosslinking, tannic acid was employed as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound. The analytical characterization of the hydrogel revealed that the interaction between carbohydrates and tannic acid consisted of hydrogen bonds. The hydrogel showed satisfactory mechanical performances (compressive Young’s modulus up to 188 ± 12 kPa, and strain at break up to 55.3 ± 1.5 %). The biological results demonstrated that tannic acid-loaded hydrogels were cytocompatible and significantly enhanced the genetic expression of key chondrogenic markers (Collagen type 2 and SRY-Box Transcription Factor 9), showing up-regulation of ∼30- and 14-fold under physiological conditions, and ∼6- and 3-fold under pro-inflammatory conditions of oxidative stress, compared to the unloaded hydrogels. Moreover, the intrinsic ability of tannic acid to bind pro-inflammatory active species under oxidative stress imparted the scaffold with immunomodulatory properties, as shown by the upregulation of the anti-inflammatory genes Interlukin-10 and Interferon-γ. Finally, tannic acid reported bactericidal and anti-biofilm activity, achieving a bacterial load reduction of over 90 % when hydrogels were infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, this research highlights the multiple bioactivity of the gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogel for cartilage regeneration.
format Article
id doaj-art-1f3596ecc2e24e909ab606ed367947cb
institution DOAJ
issn 2666-8939
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications
spelling doaj-art-1f3596ecc2e24e909ab606ed367947cb2025-08-20T02:39:35ZengElsevierCarbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications2666-89392025-06-011010086010.1016/j.carpta.2025.100860Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory propertiesFrancesco Busto0Alessandro C. Scalia1Piergiorgio Gentile2Sofia Toniolo3Stefania Cometa4Stefano Liotino5Andrea Cochis6Piero Mastrorilli7Elvira De Giglio8Department of Chemistry, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy; INSTM, National Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, Via G. Giusti 9, 50121 Florence, ItalyCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Disease, CAAD, Department of Health Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, ItalyCentre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, SpainCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Disease, CAAD, Department of Health Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, ItalyJaber Innovation s.r.l., Via Calcutta 8, 00144 Rome, Italy; Corresponding author at: Jaber Innovation s.r.l., Via Calcutta 8, 00144 Rome, Italy.Department of Chemistry, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy; INSTM, National Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, Via G. Giusti 9, 50121 Florence, ItalyCenter for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Disease, CAAD, Department of Health Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, ItalyDICATECh Department Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy; INSTM, National Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, Via G. Giusti 9, 50121 Florence, Italy; Corresponding author at: Department of Chemistry, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, via E. Orabona 4, 70126, Bari, Italy.A novel hydrogel, containing two gellan gums with different acyl content crosslinked with tannic acid and magnesium ions, was proposed as cartilage substitute. In addition to crosslinking, tannic acid was employed as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound. The analytical characterization of the hydrogel revealed that the interaction between carbohydrates and tannic acid consisted of hydrogen bonds. The hydrogel showed satisfactory mechanical performances (compressive Young’s modulus up to 188 ± 12 kPa, and strain at break up to 55.3 ± 1.5 %). The biological results demonstrated that tannic acid-loaded hydrogels were cytocompatible and significantly enhanced the genetic expression of key chondrogenic markers (Collagen type 2 and SRY-Box Transcription Factor 9), showing up-regulation of ∼30- and 14-fold under physiological conditions, and ∼6- and 3-fold under pro-inflammatory conditions of oxidative stress, compared to the unloaded hydrogels. Moreover, the intrinsic ability of tannic acid to bind pro-inflammatory active species under oxidative stress imparted the scaffold with immunomodulatory properties, as shown by the upregulation of the anti-inflammatory genes Interlukin-10 and Interferon-γ. Finally, tannic acid reported bactericidal and anti-biofilm activity, achieving a bacterial load reduction of over 90 % when hydrogels were infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Thus, this research highlights the multiple bioactivity of the gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogel for cartilage regeneration.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666893925001987Gellan gumTannic acidHydrogelAnti-inflammatoryAnti-bacterialChondrogenesis
spellingShingle Francesco Busto
Alessandro C. Scalia
Piergiorgio Gentile
Sofia Toniolo
Stefania Cometa
Stefano Liotino
Andrea Cochis
Piero Mastrorilli
Elvira De Giglio
Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications
Gellan gum
Tannic acid
Hydrogel
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-bacterial
Chondrogenesis
title Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
title_full Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
title_fullStr Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
title_full_unstemmed Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
title_short Gellan gum/tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair: the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
title_sort gellan gum tannic acid hydrogels for cartilage repair the versatile role of tannic acid as green crosslinker conferring antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties
topic Gellan gum
Tannic acid
Hydrogel
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-bacterial
Chondrogenesis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666893925001987
work_keys_str_mv AT francescobusto gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT alessandrocscalia gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT piergiorgiogentile gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT sofiatoniolo gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT stefaniacometa gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT stefanoliotino gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT andreacochis gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT pieromastrorilli gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties
AT elviradegiglio gellangumtannicacidhydrogelsforcartilagerepairtheversatileroleoftannicacidasgreencrosslinkerconferringantibacterialandantiinflammatoryproperties