Advances in modulating mechanical properties of gelatin-based hydrogel in tissue engineering

Recently, gelatin-based hydrogels have been used extensively in tissue engineering. For tissue engineering scaffolds, it is important to adjust the mechanical properties of hydrogels toward specific end-use. Because gelatin has poor mechanical properties, a number of crosslinking strategies have been used to enhance structural and mechanical integrity of gelatin, including physical, chemical, enzymatic, and combinations of them, as well as network patterns such as double networks, interpenetrating networks, and nano reinforcements. This review discusses recent advances in designing and developing structurally stable scaffolds using gelatin-based hydrogels. Lastly, current challenges, solutions and future perspectives in this research field are presented.