Hettiaratchi Marian H, Schudel Alex, Rouse Tel, García Andrés J, Thomas Susan N, Guldberg Robert E, McDevitt Todd C
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
APL Bioeng. 2018 Jun 12;2(2):026110. doi: 10.1063/1.4999925. eCollection 2018 Jun.
Hydrogels present versatile platforms for the encapsulation and delivery of proteins and cells for regenerative medicine applications. However, differences in hydrogel cross-linking density, polymer weight content, and affinity for proteins all contribute to diverse diffusion rates of proteins through hydrogel networks. Here, we describe a simple method to accurately measure protein diffusion through hydrogels, within a few hours and without the use of large amounts of protein. We tracked the diffusion of several proteins of varying molecular weights along the axial direction of capillary tubes filled with alginate, collagen, or poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels. The rate of protein diffusion decreased with increasing molecular weight. A computational model of protein diffusion through capillary tubes was also created to predict and verify experimental protein diffusion coefficients. This capillary tube-based method of measuring protein diffusion represents a simple strategy to interrogate protein diffusion through natural and synthetic hydrogels and aid in the design of better biomaterial-based delivery vehicles that can effectively modulate protein release.
水凝胶为再生医学应用中蛋白质和细胞的封装与递送提供了多功能平台。然而，水凝胶交联密度、聚合物重量含量以及对蛋白质的亲和力的差异，都会导致蛋白质通过水凝胶网络的扩散速率各不相同。在此，我们描述了一种简单的方法，可在数小时内准确测量蛋白质通过水凝胶的扩散情况，且无需使用大量蛋白质。我们追踪了几种不同分子量的蛋白质在填充有藻酸盐、胶原蛋白或聚乙二醇水凝胶的毛细管轴向上的扩散情况。蛋白质扩散速率随分子量增加而降低。还创建了一个蛋白质通过毛细管扩散的计算模型，以预测和验证实验性蛋白质扩散系数。这种基于毛细管的蛋白质扩散测量方法是一种简单策略，用于研究蛋白质通过天然和合成水凝胶的扩散，并有助于设计能够有效调节蛋白质释放的更好的生物材料递送载体。
