Benoit, DanielleMullen, Marcus2024-08-302024https://hdl.handle.net/1794/3005633 pagesNative tendon tissue heals poorly post-injury due to the formation of fibrotic scar tissue, lowering the tensile strength of tendon after repair and leaving it prone to re-injury. The weakness of fibrotic tissue compared to uninjured tendon is partially attributed to a disorganized extracellular matrix (ECM) and irregular cellular alignment. To minimize fibrosis, the field of tissue engineering has demonstrated strategies for promoting the alignment of synthetic materials that recapitulate the anisotropy of native tendon, some of which have been used to effectively promote cell alignment. However, many materials used to fabricate these engineered ECMs (eECMs) lack tunable mechanical and chemical properties, limiting their ability to be modified to best mimic the native tendon environment. Here we seek to synthesize anisotropic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel scaffolds with tunable mechanical properties through a two-step polymerization strategy. Crosslinked polymers are first synthesized by thiol-Michael addition of a thiol-containing crosslinker to acrylated PEG. First-stage polymers are then stretched into alignment with mechanical force, and additional crosslinks are formed through photopolymerization of acrylates. Throughout synthesis, polymer networks are analyzed for birefringence and are finally evaluated in swelling studies to assess anisotropy. Results show that polymers retain tensile strain applied during the two-step polymerization, causing polymers to lengthen by 24% in the direction of tensile strain. Future analyses should gauge the polymer anisotropy using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and/or X-ray scattering techniques. This study showcases a potential strategy to synthesize aligned polymer networks using highly tunable components for tendon tissue engineering.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 4.0BiomaterialsTissue EngineeringHydrogelsAnisotropyTendonThesis/Dissertation