20.500.12556/RUL-149974 Encapsulation of living photosynthetic organisms in alginate-gelatin hydrogels for controlled cell growth and oxygen production Alginate-gelatin bicomposite hydrogels have gained prominence in biomedicine and tissue engineering for their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and customizable properties. Since one of the most promising applications of hydrogels is their use as patches for wound healing reliant to oxygen, we prepared alginate-gelatin hydrogels with constant 2% (w/v) alginate and increasing concentration of gelatin (up to 1% (w/v), crosslinked with a solution of 0.43% CaCl$_2$ and used them to encapsulate photosynthetic cells of a unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We investigated how hydrogel design parameters (crosslink density) influenced cell growth and oxygen production compared to their rheological properties. Our findings demonstrate that optimizing gelatine concentration played an important role in the diffusion of nutrients to the encapsulated cells, the most important parameter in controlling cell growth and oxygen production. We observed that modulating the concentration of gelatin molecules up to the gelation point, which was determined at 0.66% (w/v), significantly impacting nutrient diffusion, cell growth, and oxygen production due to the viscosity effect. Differently, at concentrations of GEL above gelation point (up to 1%) the stable hydrogel network is formed which affect the nutrient diffusion, cell growth, and oxygen production because of crosslink density. The effect of cell concentration on the mechanical properties of the hydrogel was investigated, which are crucial for further development of alginate-gelatin systems with targeted properties for various applications. hydrogels cell growth Chlamydomonas reinhardtii oxygen production mechanical properties nutrients diffusion coefficient hidrogeli rast celic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii proizvodnja kisika mehanske lastnosti difuzijski koeficient hranil true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2023-09-12 13:57:45 2023-09-12 13:57:46 2024-02-06 10:01:10 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2023 0 0 10 str. Vol. 199, art. 109070 Oct. 2023 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 66.098 1369-703X 10.1016/j.bej.2023.109070 162521347 1-s2.0-S1369703X23002656-main.pdf 1-s2.0-S1369703X23002656-main.pdf 1 3BDAE567BA6ED882B7C5ED8F35970842 906fd782ed99eacebf4c60851c37fc44f290509a0051a54983f0ca6f06846bcd 3eeffbf6-5164-11ee-b4c3-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=174501 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369703X23002656 1 96e08e41-5163-11ee-b4c3-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=174499 Fakulteta za kemijo in kemijsko tehnologijo Fakulteta za strojništvo 0 0 0