Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue

Abstract Well-orchestrated integration of multiple contradictory properties into a single material is crucial for dynamic soft tissue defect repair but remains challenging. Bioinspired by diaphragm, we have successfully developed a robust super-structured porous hydrogel with anisotropic skeleton an...

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Main Authors: Siqi He, Weiwen Liang, Youchen Tang, Jinquan Zhang, Runxian Wang, Luna Quan, Yang Ouyang, Rongkang Huang, Ruoxu Dou, Dingcai Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58062-4
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author Siqi He
Weiwen Liang
Youchen Tang
Jinquan Zhang
Runxian Wang
Luna Quan
Yang Ouyang
Rongkang Huang
Ruoxu Dou
Dingcai Wu
author_facet Siqi He
Weiwen Liang
Youchen Tang
Jinquan Zhang
Runxian Wang
Luna Quan
Yang Ouyang
Rongkang Huang
Ruoxu Dou
Dingcai Wu
author_sort Siqi He
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Well-orchestrated integration of multiple contradictory properties into a single material is crucial for dynamic soft tissue defect repair but remains challenging. Bioinspired by diaphragm, we have successfully developed a robust super-structured porous hydrogel with anisotropic skeleton and asymmetric porous surfaces via integrated molding. Thanks to synergistic toughening of anisotropic structure and Hofmeister effect of amino acid, our hydrogel achieves high tensile strength (22.2 MPa) and elastic modulus (32.4 MPa) for strong mechanical support, while maintaining excellent toughness (61.9 MJ m−3) and fatigue threshold (5.6 kJ m−2) against dynamic stretching during the early healing phase. The mechanical properties of hydrogel gradually decrease during the late healing phase, minimizing its restriction on physiological movements. In addition, diaphragm defect repair models on female rabbits demonstrate asymmetric porous surfaces can simultaneously prevent visceral adhesion and promote defect healing. Therefore, our hydrogel opens an attractive avenue for the construction of biomimetically hierarchical materials to address the stringent requirements of dynamic tissue defect repair.
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issn 2041-1723
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spelling doaj-art-72f27ae14fcd4457a4e97187985fee662025-08-20T03:07:43ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-04-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-58062-4Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissueSiqi He0Weiwen Liang1Youchen Tang2Jinquan Zhang3Runxian Wang4Luna Quan5Yang Ouyang6Rongkang Huang7Ruoxu Dou8Dingcai Wu9Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of General Surgery (Colorectal Surgery), Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Diseases, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityThe Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityKey Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of General Surgery (Colorectal Surgery), Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Diseases, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of General Surgery (Colorectal Surgery), Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Diseases, The Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityDepartment of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen UniversityKey Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-sen UniversityAbstract Well-orchestrated integration of multiple contradictory properties into a single material is crucial for dynamic soft tissue defect repair but remains challenging. Bioinspired by diaphragm, we have successfully developed a robust super-structured porous hydrogel with anisotropic skeleton and asymmetric porous surfaces via integrated molding. Thanks to synergistic toughening of anisotropic structure and Hofmeister effect of amino acid, our hydrogel achieves high tensile strength (22.2 MPa) and elastic modulus (32.4 MPa) for strong mechanical support, while maintaining excellent toughness (61.9 MJ m−3) and fatigue threshold (5.6 kJ m−2) against dynamic stretching during the early healing phase. The mechanical properties of hydrogel gradually decrease during the late healing phase, minimizing its restriction on physiological movements. In addition, diaphragm defect repair models on female rabbits demonstrate asymmetric porous surfaces can simultaneously prevent visceral adhesion and promote defect healing. Therefore, our hydrogel opens an attractive avenue for the construction of biomimetically hierarchical materials to address the stringent requirements of dynamic tissue defect repair.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58062-4
spellingShingle Siqi He
Weiwen Liang
Youchen Tang
Jinquan Zhang
Runxian Wang
Luna Quan
Yang Ouyang
Rongkang Huang
Ruoxu Dou
Dingcai Wu
Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
Nature Communications
title Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
title_full Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
title_fullStr Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
title_full_unstemmed Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
title_short Robust super-structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
title_sort robust super structured porous hydrogel enables bioadaptive repair of dynamic soft tissue
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58062-4
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