Phenolic hydroxy groups incorporated for the peroxidase-catalyzed gelation of a carboxymethylcellulose support: cellular adhesion and proliferation.

The effect of Ph-OH group content on gelation time, mechanical properties, hydrophobicity, and cellular adhesiveness of hydrogels produced from carboxymethylcellulose derivatives is investigated. A higher Ph-OH group content induces faster gelation and yields more brittle and hydrophobic gels. After 4 h of seeding, a larger number of L929 fibroblasts adhere to the hydrogel of the CMC-Ph that contains 15.4 Ph-OH groups per 100 repeat units of uronic acid (97% adhesion rate) than to the gel of CMC-Ph with only 8.4 Ph-OH groups (62% adhesion rate). The results demonstrate that controlling the Ph-OH group content is an effective and useful way to control cellular adhesion and proliferation on the hydrogels, as well as gelation time and mechanical properties of the gels.