Bioinspired catechol-based photocurable tissue sealants

Herein we report a photocurable tissue sealant obtained through thiol-ene reaction of thiol-functionalized catechol monomers, synthesized through thia-Michael addition, with two polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) commercial monomers in the presence of photoinitiator (PI) BAPO. The mixture is directly applied to the tissue and irradiated with both UV light and visible light (blue LED). The adhesion was studied through burst pressure (BP) measurements. Characterizations revealed very fast adhesions for gastrointestinal and external skin tissues (11.3 and 29.6 kPa, respectively), competitive with commercial products. Importantly, in vitro cytotoxicity confirmed the sealant biocompatibility in two cell lines (HaCaT and HFF-1) in two different assays, one incubating a piece of the cured material, and the second one curing the formulation over the cells, hence testing the biocompatibility of the procedure.