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Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been successfully employed to obtain a new derivative of hyaluronic acid (HA) able to change its solubility as a function of external pH and then to be potentially useful for intestinal release of bioactive molecules, included enzymes and proteins.In particular, a macroinitiator has been prepared by linking 2-bromo-2-methypropionic acid (BMP) to the amino groups of ethylenediamino derivative of tetrabutyl ammonium salt of HA (HA-TBA-EDA). This macroinititor, named HA-TBA-EDA-BMP has been used for the ATRP of sodium methacrylate (MANa) using a complex of Cu(I) and 2,2 ′ -bipyridyl (Byp) as a catalyst.The resulting copolymer, named HA-EDA-BMP-MANa, has been characterized by 1 H NMR and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) analyses. A turbidimetric analysis has showed its pH sensitive behavior, being insoluble in simulated gastric fluid but soluble when pH increases more than 2.5. To confirm the ability of HA-EDA-BMP-MANa in protecting peptides or proteins from denaturation in acidic medium, ␣-chymotrypsin has been chosen as a model of protein molecule and its activity has been evaluated after entrapment into HA-EDA-BMP-MANa chains and treatment under simulated gastric conditions. Finally, cell compatibility has been evaluated by performing a MTS assay on murine dermal fibroblasts cultured with HA-EDA-BMP-MANa solutions.

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In this work, the production and characterization of electrospun scaffolds of the copolymer α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-DL-aspartamide-graft-polylactic acid (PHEA-g-PLA), proposed for a potential topical release of Ibuprofen (IBU), are reported. The drug has been chemically linked to PHEA-g-PLA and/or physically mixed to the copolymer before electrospinning. Degradation studies have been performed as a function of time in Dulbecco phosphate buffer solution pH 7.4, for both unloaded and drug-loaded scaffolds. By using an appropriate ratio between drug physically blended to the copolymer and drug-copolymer conjugate, a useful control of its release can be obtained. MTS assay on human dermal fibroblasts cultured onto these scaffolds, showed the absence of toxicity as well as their ability to allow cell adhesion.