Liu Yuchen, Khoury Luai R
Department of Materials Science and Engineering Technion Israel Institute of Technology Haifa 32000 Israel.
Small Sci. 2024 Jul 21;4(10):2400214. doi: 10.1002/smsc.202400214. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Expandable shape-morphing hydrogels that ensure prolonged site residence, have tailored mechanical integrity and tunability, are biocompatible to minimize side effects and can release drugs over an extended time remain challenging to achieve. Herein, a new class of enzyme-triggered bovine serum albumin and polyethylene glycol diacrylate hybrid hydrogels is presented, contributing to advancements in controlled drug-model release and actuation. These hydrogels combine the intrinsic properties of proteins with the resilience of synthetic polymers, offering a versatile application platform. Central to our research is the trypsin-induced simultaneous functionality of controlled drug model release and dynamic shape changes under physiological trypsin concentrations (0.01% w/v). These hydrogels display tailored mechanical and physical properties and microstructure, which are crucial for biomedical devices, soft robotics, and tissue engineering applications. Additionally, the hydrogels effectively control the release of fluorescein isothiocyanate, a model drug, indicating their potential for highly targeted drug delivery, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract. The study also highlights the significant effect of shape-morphing on drug release rates under physiological trypsin concentrations. These findings suggest that enzyme-responsive hybrid protein-polymer hydrogel actuators with tailored mechanical and physical properties can enhance the precision of drug delivery in biomedical applications.
能够确保长时间在给药部位停留、具有定制的机械完整性和可调性、具有生物相容性以将副作用降至最低且能在较长时间内释放药物的可膨胀形状变形水凝胶，仍然难以实现。在此，我们展示了一类新型的酶触发牛血清白蛋白和聚乙二醇二丙烯酸酯混合水凝胶，这有助于在药物控释模型和驱动方面取得进展。这些水凝胶将蛋白质的固有特性与合成聚合物的弹性相结合，提供了一个多功能的应用平台。我们研究的核心是在生理胰蛋白酶浓度（0.01% w/v）下，胰蛋白酶诱导的药物控释模型和动态形状变化的同时功能。这些水凝胶表现出定制的机械和物理性能以及微观结构，这对于生物医学设备、软体机器人和组织工程应用至关重要。此外，这些水凝胶有效地控制了模型药物异硫氰酸荧光素的释放，表明它们在高度靶向药物递送方面的潜力，特别是在胃肠道中。该研究还强调了在生理胰蛋白酶浓度下形状变形对药物释放速率的显著影响。这些发现表明，具有定制机械和物理性能的酶响应性混合蛋白质 - 聚合物水凝胶致动器可以提高生物医学应用中药物递送的精度。
