Cell proliferation and thermally induced cell detachment of galactosylated thermo-responsive hydrogels

A novel thermo-responsive and biocompatible copolymer hydrogel based on N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and galactosylated acrylate (GAC) was synthesized successfully by the free radical copolymerization. The copolymer hydrogel poly(NIPAAm-co-GAC) exhibits reversible temperature-response at ∼30 °C in both water and cell culture medium. Compared with conventional PNIPAAm hydrogel, the adhesion and proliferation of HepG2 and L929 cells were higher on surfaces of hydrogels, suggesting that the incorporation of GAC could stimulate cell adsorption and growth. In addition, both HepG2 and L929 cells could spontaneously detach from the surface of the poly(NIPAAm-co-GAC) hydrogels without treating with any enzymes, and the detached cells at 20 °C showed higher viability than those detached from that on PNIPAAm hydrogel.