Approach to repair tissue defects by bonding injectable gels to native soft tissues

A method for repairing a fibrocartilage defect in a subject, comprising:

• contacting the fibrocartilage defect with a first composition comprising an oxidized and methacrylated non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan, wherein the glycosaminoglycan is hyaluronic acid, to form an imine bond between the glycosaminoglycan and the fibrocartilage defect, thereby coating the fibrocartilage defect with the glycosaminoglycan;
• and contacting the fibrocartilage defect coated with the glycosaminoglycan with a pre-polymer hydrogel composition comprising a first crosslinking unit that is capable of bonding to methacrylate, wherein the first crosslinkinq unit comprises poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) having an average molecular weight of from 15 kDa to 25 kDa, wherein the pre-polymer hydrogel composition forms an interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel or a single network hydrogel, and wherein the hydrogel is covalently bonded to the glycosaminoglycan through methacrylate.