1
Return

Injectable Hydrogel-Based Delivery of Soluble Cripto Protein Enhances Repair After Skeletal Muscle Injury

delete2026-06-12
delete0
delete
OA
AI
R
Rachel Lev Gur
O
Orit Bar-Am
G
Galit Saar
O
Ombretta Guardiola
E
Eli Peled
G
Gabriella Minchiotti
D
Dror Seliktar *
DOI:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6c00084delete
deleteOriginal
deleteOriginal request for help
deleteShare
deleteSave
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Injectable protein therapies offer a minimally invasive approach for enhancing skeletal muscle regeneration, yet their clinical translation has been limited by poor in vivo stability, rapid diffusion, and insufficient temporal bioavailability at the injury site. Here, we report a thermoresponsive, fully injectable Pluronic F127–fibrinogen (FF) hydrogel that enables temporally synchronized delivery of a soluble form of Cripto, a GPI-anchored co-receptor that promotes myogenic regeneration by counteracting myostatin signaling. Cripto is physically entrapped within the FF precursor and undergoes in situ gelation at physiological temperature, allowing localized delivery without chemical modification or pre-fabrication. The FF hydrogel sustains Cripto release for up to 28 days while preserving receptor-binding activity. In a cardiotoxin-induced skeletal muscle injury model, bolus Cripto delivery failed to enhance regeneration, whereas FF-mediated delivery significantly improved muscle repair, as evidenced by increased centrally nucleated myofibers, enlarged fiber cross-sectional area, and elevated desmin expression. Importantly, FF biodegradation overlapped with the biologically permissive regeneration window, synchronizing protein bioavailability with muscle repair. Together, these findings identify injectable FF hydrogels as a practical and generalizable platform for temporally controlled protein delivery in skeletal muscle regeneration.
Keywords:
Agricultural chemistry
Anatomy
Hydrogels
Microspheres
myostatin inhibition
tissue engineering
hydrogel biodegradation
muscle injury
regenerative biomaterials
protein therapeutics

Journal

A
ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering
IF:
5.5
Papers:
265
Citations:
0

Organization

T
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Scholars:
108
Papers: 46
Citations: 0
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Citing Papers

Citing Papers