%0 Journal Article %A Seyedkarimi, Mansooreh-Sadat %A Mirzadeh, Hamid %A Mohammadi, Aliasghar %A Bagheri-Khoulenjani, Shadab %T Mechanical Characteristics of SPG-178 Hydrogels: Optimizing Viscoelastic Properties through Microrheology and Response Surface Methodology %J Iranian Biomedical Journal %V 24 %N 2 %U http://ibj.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-2953-en.html %R 10.29252/ibj.24.2.110 %D 2020 %K Hydrogels, Regenerative medicine, Rheology, Tissue engineering, SPG-178, %X Background: Self-assembling peptides (SApeptides) have growing applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The application of SApeptide-based hydrogels depends strongly on their viscoelastic properties. Optimizing the properties is of importance in tuning the characteristics of the hydrogels for a variety of applications. Methods: In this study, we employed statistical modeling, conducted with the response surface methodology (RSM) and particle tracking microrheology, to investigate the effects of self-assembling SPG-178 peptide and added NaCl salt concentrations and milieu type (deionized water or blood serum) on the viscoelastic properties of SPG-178 hydrogels. A central composite RSM model was employed for finding the optimum value of the parameters to achieve the highest storage modulus and the lowest tan δ. Results: Viscoelastic properties of each sample, including storage modulus, loss modulus, and tan δ, were determined. Storage modulus and tan δ were modeled, accounting for the impact of the SPG-178 peptide and NaCl concentrations and milieu type on the viscoelastic properties. It was found that the SPG-178 hydrogel storage modulus was positively influenced by the SPG-178 peptide concentration and the serum. Conclusion: A combination of microrheology and RSM is a useful test method for statistical modeling and analysis of rheological behavior of solid-like gels, which could be applied in various biomedical applications such as hemostasis. %> http://ibj.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-2953-en.pdf %P 110-118 %& 110 %! Mechanical Characteristics of SPG-178 Hydrogels %9 Full Length/Original Article %L A-10-1-802 %+ Polymer and Color Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran %G eng %@ 1028-852X %[ 2020