Program of Biomedical Engineering, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA.
Macromol Biosci. 2020 Oct;20(10):e2000085. doi: 10.1002/mabi.202000085. Epub 2020 Jul 30.
Hydrogels, whose degradability can be controlled while also preserving cell viability or biomolecule stability, are in demand. Degradable polyethylene glycol crosslinkers are hydrolytically designed for use in hydrogels. Degradation is controlled by crosslinker chemical structure, such as introducing local hydrophobicity, steric hindrance, or electron-withdrawing moieties near a degradable ester moiety. Hydrogels made using these crosslinkers have gelation times from 1 to 22 min, storage moduli from 3 to 10 kPa, mesh sizes from 10 to 13 nm, and degradation times from 18 h to 16 d. However, when reaction conditions are modified to achieve similar gelation time, hydrogels have similar initial properties but preserve the wide range of degradation times. All crosslinkers support high cell viability upon hydrogel encapsulation or exposure to leachables and degradation products. This innovation in controlling degradation can help realize the hydrogels' potential for drug delivery or as matrices for cell encapsulation and transplantation.
水凝胶在保持细胞活力或生物分子稳定性的同时，其降解性可以得到控制，因此受到了广泛的关注。可降解的聚乙二醇交联剂是通过水解设计用于水凝胶的。降解是通过交联剂的化学结构来控制的，例如在可降解的酯基附近引入局部疏水性、空间位阻或吸电子基团。使用这些交联剂制备的水凝胶的凝胶时间为 1 至 22 分钟，储存模量为 3 至 10 kPa，网格尺寸为 10 至 13nm，降解时间为 18 小时至 16 天。然而，当反应条件被修改以达到相似的凝胶时间时，水凝胶具有相似的初始性能，但保留了广泛的降解时间。所有的交联剂在水凝胶包封或接触浸出物和降解产物时都能保持高细胞活力。这种控制降解的创新可以帮助实现水凝胶在药物输送或作为细胞包封和移植的基质方面的潜力。
