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Characterization of protein release from poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels with crosslink density gradients
Author(s) -
Bal Tuğba,
Kepsutlu Burcu,
Kizilel Seda
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.34701
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , ethylene glycol , photopolymer , biomolecule , peg ratio , chemical engineering , cell encapsulation , thermal diffusivity , tissue engineering , drug delivery , diffusion , biophysics , polymer , nanotechnology , polymer chemistry , monomer , biomedical engineering , composite material , medicine , physics , finance , quantum mechanics , biology , engineering , economics , thermodynamics
Transplantation of cells within poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel scaffolds as effective immunoisolation barriers is becoming increasingly important strategy for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In these applications, crosslink density of these membranes has significant effect on the control of diffusion of many biomolecules such as nutrients, cellular wastes, and hormones. When these networks are designed with crosslink density gradients, alterations in network structure may have an effect on biomolecule diffusivity. The goal of this work was to synthesize PEG hydrogels via surface initiated photopolymerization for use in applications involving physiological protein delivery and cell encapsulation. For this purpose, PEG hydrogels of differing crosslink density gradients were formed via surface initiated photopolymerization, and the diffusion of model proteins with various molecular weights were observed through these PEG hydrogel scaffolds with defined properties. Diffusion coefficients were on the order of 10 −7 −10 −8 cm 2 /s and protein diffusion time scales varied from 5 min to 30 h. The results confirm that synthetic PEG hydrogels with crosslink density gradients are promising for controlled release of bioactive molecules and for covalent incorporation of ligands to support cell viability. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 487–495, 2014.