ABSTRACT:In an effort to create an in situ physically and chemically cross-linked hydrogel for in vivo applications, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) was copolymerized with poly(ethylene glycol)-monoacrylate (PEG-monoacrylate) and then the hydroxyl terminus of the PEG was further modified with acryloyl chloride to form poly(NIPAAm-co-PEG) with acrylate terminated pendant groups. In addition to physically gelling with temperature changes, when mixed with a multi-thiol compound such as pentaerythritol tetrakis 3-mercaptopropionate (QT) in phosphate buffer saline solution of pH 7.4, this polymer formed a chemical gel via a Michael-type addition reaction. The chemical gelation time of the polymer was affected by mixing time; swelling of the copolymer solutions was temperature dependant. Because of its unique gelation properties, this material may be better suited for long-term functional replacement applications than other thermo-sensitive physical gels. Also, the PEG content of this material may render it more biocompatible than similar HEMA-based precursors in previous simultaneous chemically and physically gelling materials. With its improved mechanical strength and biocompatibility, this material could potentially be applied as a thermally gelling injectable biomaterial for aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation (AVM) occlusion.
Poly(NIPAAm-co-hydroxyethylmethacarylate (HEMA)) acrylate and poly(NIPAAm-co-cysteine ethyl ester (CysOEt)) were synthesized and characterized by GPC(gel permeation chromatography), rheology, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and Ellman's method. Upon mixing of these materials in aqueous solution, they formed gels immediately at body temperature owing to temperature-driven physical gelling, and gradually cured by chemical cross-linking through Michael-type addition reactions between thiols and acrylates. The rate of nucleophilic attack in the Michael-type addition reaction was shown to be highly dependent on the mole ratio of thiol to acrylate at neutral pH. Physical and chemical gelation improved the mechanical properties of the materials compared to purely physical gels. In vitro and in vivo results revealed that chemical and physical gels formed stiffer less viscoelastic materials compared to purely physical gels. Physical and chemical gel systems using thermosensitive polymer with acrylates and thermosensitive polymer with thiols showed minimum toxicity.
Water soluble poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) [PEO-PPO-PEO] triblock copolymers self-assemble into thermoreversible micellar crystals comprised of periodically spaced micelles. The micelles have PPO cores surrounded by hydrated PEO coronas and the dimensions of the unit cell of the organized micelles is on the order of several to tens of nanometers. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is used to quantify nanoparticle transport in these nanostructured polymer micelle systems. Diffusivity of bovine serum albumin (BSA, Dh ∼ 7 nm) is quantified across a wide range of polymer, or micelle, concentrations covering both the disordered fluid as well as the structured micellar crystal to understand the effects of nanoscale structure on particle transport. Measured particle diffusivity in these micellar systems is reduced by as much as four orders of magnitude when compared to diffusivity in free solution. Diffusivity in the disordered micellar fluid is best understood in terms of diffusion through a polymeric solution, while transport in the structured micellar phase is possibly due to hopping between interstitial sites. These results not only show that the nanoscale structures of the micelles have a measureable impact on particle diffusivity, but also demonstrate the ability to tune nanoscale transport in self-assembled materials.
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