Research Center for Stem Cell Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5th, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan.
Faculty of Advanced Life Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2015 Feb 1;126:575-9. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2014.11.020. Epub 2014 Dec 4.
This paper reports a simple technique to synthesize elasticity tunable hybrid hydrogels using photocleavable (N-hydroxysuccinimide terminated photocleavable tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol); NHS-PC-4armPEG) and non-photocleavable (N-hydroxysuccinimide terminated tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol); NHS-4armPEG) activated-ester type crosslinkers. Partially photodegradable hybrid hydrogels were synthesized by reacting the crosslinker mixture with amino-terminated tetra-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (amino-4armPEG). The photocleavable crosslinks are cleaved by irradiating light while the non-photocleavable crosslinks remain intact, resulting in decreased elasticity. We demonstrate that hydrogel elasticity can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of photocleavable NHS-PC-4armPEG and non-photocleavable NHS-4armPEG, and by varying the light exposure energy. We also show how micropatterned elasticity can be obtained in the hydrogels by irradiating with micropatterned light. These techniques could provide a novel platform to tailor the elasticity of hydrogels with microscale precision for biological studies in the near future.
本文报道了一种使用光可裂解（N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺封端的光可裂解四臂聚乙二醇；NHS-PC-4armPEG）和非光可裂解（N-羟基琥珀酰亚胺封端的四臂聚乙二醇；NHS-4armPEG）活化酯型交联剂合成弹性可调杂化水凝胶的简单技术。部分光降解杂化水凝胶是通过将交联剂混合物与氨基封端的四臂聚乙二醇（氨基-4armPEG）反应合成的。光可裂解交联通过照射光而被裂解，而非光可裂解交联保持完整，导致弹性降低。我们证明，通过调整光可裂解 NHS-PC-4armPEG 和非光可裂解 NHS-4armPEG 的比例以及光暴露能量，可以控制水凝胶的弹性。我们还展示了如何通过微图案化光照射在水凝胶中获得微图案化的弹性。这些技术为未来的生物学研究提供了一种新的平台，可以以微尺度精度定制水凝胶的弹性。
