Alkylation of Human Hair Keratin for Tunable Hydrogel Erosion and Drug Delivery in Tissue Engineering Applications

The study investigated the alkylation of human hair keratin to create hydrogels with tunable erosion rates and drug delivery capabilities for tissue engineering. Alkylation reduced the free thiol content, affecting the disulfide crosslink density and thus the hydrogel's mechanical properties and erosion rates. The modified kerateine hydrogels demonstrated controlled release of therapeutic agents like ciprofloxacin, rhIGF-1, and rhBMP-2, without increasing cytotoxicity or affecting cell attachment. These findings suggested that alkylated keratin hydrogels could be useful for controlled therapeutic release and erosion in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.