Multi-responsive hydrogels for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications

Polyelectrolyte Hydrogel Platforms for the Delivery of Antidepressant Drugs

Some vinyl hydrogels containing α-amino acid residues (l-phenylalanine, l-valine) were used as polyelectrolyte platforms for the evaluation of the controlled release of two antidepressants (paroxetine and duloxetine). The closer acidity constant (pKa) values of the two drugs show a closer release profile in physiological phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer (pH 7.40) and for long periods of time. The great electrostatic interaction forces between the COO- group of the hydrogel and the protonated secondary amino nitrogen of the drug are the main factor improving the release kinetics; this release was found to be slower compared to that of two structurally related drugs bearing the tertiary amino nitrogen atom (citalopram and trazodone). Moreover, at the lower value of pH 4.60, paroxetine showed a flatter release profile from the hydrogel containing the l-phenylalanine residues that, after six days, is half of that shown by duloxetine. Further effects due to steric and hydrophobic interactions may contribute to the different release profile. A further stimulation with alternating magnetic fields (AMF) of low frequency (20 kHz/50 W) enhanced the release of the drug at pH 7.40 from the hydrogel containing magnetic nanoparticles. Both AMF and PBS solution at pH 7.40 were used to trigger the 'on-demand' pulsatile paroxetine release from the nanocomposite hydrogel.

Hydrogel-Based Controlled Delivery Systems for Articular Cartilage Repair

Delivery of bioactive factors is a very valuable strategy for articular cartilage repair. Nevertheless, the direct supply of such biomolecules is limited by several factors including rapid degradation, the need for supraphysiological doses, the occurrence of immune and inflammatory responses, and the possibility of dissemination to nontarget sites that may impair their therapeutic action and raise undesired effects. The use of controlled delivery systems has the potential of overcoming these hurdles by promoting the temporal and spatial presentation of such factors in a defined target. Hydrogels are promising materials to develop delivery systems for cartilage repair as they can be easily loaded with bioactive molecules controlling their release only where required. This review exposes the most recent technologies on the design of hydrogels as controlled delivery platforms of bioactive molecules for cartilage repair.

Injectable and pH-Responsive Silk Nanofiber Hydrogels for Sustained Anticancer Drug Delivery

Silk is useful as a drug carrier due to its biocompatibility, tunable degradation, and outstanding capacity in maintaining the function of drugs. Injectable silk hydrogels could deliver doxorubicin (DOX) for localized chemotherapy for breast cancer. To improve hydrogel properties, thixotropic silk nanofiber hydrogels in an all-aqueous solution were prepared and used to locally deliver DOX. The silk hydrogels displayed thixotropic capacity, allowing for easy injectability followed by solidification in situ. The hydrogels were loaded with DOX and released the drug over eight weeks with pH- and concentration-dependent release kinetics. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that DOX-loaded silk hydrogels had good antitumor response, outperforming the equivalent dose of free DOX administered intravenously. Thixotropic silk hydrogels provide improved injectability to support sustained release, suggesting promising applications for localized chemotherapy.

Nioplexes encapsulated in supramolecular hybrid biohydrogels as versatile delivery platforms for nucleic acids

Supramolecular hydrogels based on N-protected phenylalanine (Fmoc–Phe–OH) were used to encapsulate non-ionic surfactant vesicles (niosomes).

Blue light emitting self-healable graphene quantum dot embedded hydrogels

Graphene quantum dot (GQD) embedded Amoc (N-anthracenemethyloxycarbonyl) amino acid based hydrogels show self-healing properties and emit blue light.

Multi-Functional Macromers for Hydrogel Design in Biomedical Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Contemporary biomaterials are expected to provide tailored mechanical, biological and structural cues to encapsulated or invading cells in regenerative applications. In addition, the degradative properties of the material also have to be adjustable to the desired application. Oligo- or polymeric building blocks that can be further cross-linked into hydrogel networks, here addressed as macromers, appear as the prime option to assemble gels with the necessary degrees of freedom in the adjustment of the mentioned key parameters. Recent developments in the design of multi-functional macromers with two or more chemically different types of functionalities are summarized and discussed in this review illustrating recent trends in the development of advanced hydrogel building blocks for regenerative applications.

Biocompatible fluorescent supramolecular nanofibrous hydrogel for long-term cell tracking and tumor imaging applications

Biocompatible peptide-based supramolecular hydrogel has recently emerged as a new and promising system for biomedical applications. In this work, Rhodamine B is employed as a new capping group of self-assembling peptide, which not only provides the driving force for supramolecular nanofibrous hydrogel formation, but also endows the hydrogel with intrinsic fluroescence signal, allowing for various bioimaging applications. The fluorescent peptide nanofibrous hydrogel can be formed via disulfide bond reduction. After dilution of the hydrogel with aqueous solution, the fluorescent nanofiber suspension can be obtained. The resultant nanofibers are able to be internalized by the cancer cells and effectively track the HeLa cells for as long as 7 passages. Using a tumor-bearing mouse model, it is also demonstrated that the fluorescent supramolecular nanofibers can serve as an efficient probe for tumor imaging in a high-contrast manner.

Enzymatic biodegradation of hydrogels for protein delivery targeted to the small intestine

Multiresponsive poly(methacrylic acid-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) hydrogels were synthesized with biodegradable oligopeptide crosslinks. The oligopeptide crosslinks were incorporated using EDC-NHS zero-length links between the carboxylic acid groups of the polymer and free primary amines on the peptide. The reaction of the peptide was confirmed by primary amine assay and IR spectroscopy. The microgels exhibited pH-responsive swelling as well as enzyme-catalyzed degradation targeted by trypsin present in the small intestine, as demonstrated upon incubation with gastrointestinal fluids from rats. Relative turbidity was used to evaluate enzyme-catalyzed degradation as a function of time, and initial trypsin concentration controlled both the degradation mechanism as well as the extent of degradation. Trypsin activity was effectively extinguished by incubation at 70 °C, and both the microgels and degradation products posed no cytotoxic effect toward two different cell lines. The microgels demonstrated pH-dependent loading of the protein insulin for oral delivery to the small intestine.