Kinetics of long-term degradation of different molar mass hyaluronan solutions studied by SEC-MALLS

Glycocalyx-inspired dynamic antifouling surfaces for temporary intravascular devices

Protein and cell adhesion on temporary intravascular devices can lead to thrombosis and tissue embedment, significantly increasing complications and device retrieval difficulties. Here, we propose an endothelial glycocalyx-inspired dynamic antifouling surface strategy for indwelling catheters and retrievable vascular filters to prevent thrombosis and suppress intimal embedment. This strategy is realized on the surfaces of substrates by the intensely dense grafting of hydrolyzable endothelial polysaccharide hyaluronic acid (HA), assisted by an amine-rich phenol-polyamine universal platform. The resultant super-hydrophilic surface exhibits potent antifouling property against proteins and cells. Additionally, the HA hydrolysis induces continuous degradation of the coating, enabling removal of inevitable biofouling on the surface. Moreover, the dense grafting of HA also ensures the medium-term effectiveness of this dynamic antifouling surface. The coated catheters maintain a superior anti-thrombosis capacity in ex vivo blood circulation after 30 days immersion. In the abdominal veins of rats, the coated implants show inhibitory effects on intimal embedment up to 2 months. Overall, we envision that this glycocalyx-inspired dynamic antifouling surface strategy could be a promising surface engineering technology for temporary intravascular devices.

Hyaluronan-cecropin B interactions studied by ultrasound velocimetry and isothermal titration calorimetry

Interactions between hyaluronan and the antimicrobial peptide cecropin B were studied in water and PBS using high-resolution ultrasonic spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry. Although each technique is fundamentally different, they both gave identical results. It was found that the molecular weight of hyaluronan plays an important role in the interactions - in particular, the transition between the rod conformation and the random coil conformation. In water, interactions were saturated in a molar charge ratio of 1.5 and not 1.0 as expected. The later saturation of the interaction probably occurred either for steric reasons or due to the interaction between functional groups in the cecropin structure, which allowed complete dissociation of the antimicrobial peptide. In PBS, in contrast to water, no interactions were observed, irrespective of the molecular weight of hyaluronan. Thus, at a sufficiently high ionic strength, the interactions were suppressed.

Hyaluronic acid hydrolysis using vacuum ultraviolet TiO2 photocatalysis combined with an oxygen nanobubble system

Advanced technologies for producing high-quality low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (LMW-HA) are required from the perspective of cost-efficiency and biosafety. Here, we report a new LMW-HA production system from high molecular weight HA (HMW-HA) using vacuum ultraviolet TiO₂ photocatalysis with an oxygen nanobubble system (VUV-TP-NB). The VUV-TP-NB treatment for 3 h resulted in a satisfactory LMW-HA (approximately 50 kDa measured by GPC) yield with a low endotoxin level. Further, there were no inherent structural changes in the LMW-HA during the oxidative degradation process. Compared with conventional acid and enzyme hydrolysis methods, VUV-TP-NB showed similar degradation degree with viscosity though reduced process time by at least 8-fold. In terms of endotoxin and antioxidant effects, degradation using VUV-TP-NB demonstrated the lowest endotoxin level (0.21 EU/mL) and highest radical scavenging activity. This nanobubble-based photocatalysis system can thus be used to produce biosafe LMW-HA cost-effectively for food, medical, and cosmetics applications.

Hyaluronan interactions with cationic surfactants - Insights from fluorescence resonance energy transfer and anisotropy techniques

Interactions of hyaluronan with micelles formed by cationic surfactants were studied by the time-resolved measurement of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using perylene and fluorescein as probes. Two surfactants were studied - Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and Septonex. In pure micellar solutions, the same values of FRET efficiency were found for both surfactants, but values for the binding of the probe pair were lower for Septonex micelles than in the case of CTAB. This was attributed to steric effects of the carbethoxy group in the Septonex polar head. Upon the addition of hyaluronan, decreased FRET efficiency and increased binding were detected in comparison with pure surfactants. To resolve the structure of the formed aggregates, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy was employed as an additional technique. All results indicated that cationic micelles bind to hyaluronan forming a pearl necklace structure with micelles of smaller size compared to pure surfactant. Besides theoretical interest, the studied polyelectrolyte-surfactant system may be interesting for the formulation of drug delivery systems.

Interactions between Cationic Ion Pair Amphiphile Vesicles and Hyaluronan-A Physicochemical Study

High-resolution ultrasound spectroscopy (HR-US), size and ζ-potential titrations, and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) were used to characterize the interactions between hyaluronan and catanionic ion pair amphiphile vesicles composed of hexadecyltrimethylammonium-dodecylsulphate (HTMA-DS), dioctadecyldimethylammonium chloride (DODAC), and cholesterol. In addition to these methods, visual observations were performed with the selected molecular weight of hyaluronan. A very good correlation was obtained between data from size titration, HR-US, and visual observation, which indicated in lower charge ratios the formation of hyaluronan-coated vesicles. On the contrary, at higher charge ratios, coated vesicles disintegrated to a size of around 2000 nm. The intensity of these interactions and the disaggregation were dependent on the molecular weight of hyaluronan. All interactions studied by ITC showed strong exothermic behavior, and these interactions between vesicles and hyaluronan were confirmed from the first addition, independently of the molecular weight of hyaluronan.

Hyaluronan-Arginine Interactions-An Ultrasound and ITC Study

High-resolution ultrasound spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry were used to characterize interactions between hyaluronan and arginine oligomers. The molecular weight of arginine oligomer plays an important role in interactions with hyaluronan. Interactions were observable for arginine oligomers with eight monomer units and longer chains. The effect of the ionic strength and molecular weight of hyaluronan on interactions was tested. In an environment with increased ionic strength, the length of the arginine oligomer was crucial. Generally, sufficiently high ionic strength suppresses interactions between hyaluronan and arginine oligomers, which demonstrated interactions in water. From the point of view of the molecular weight of hyaluronan, the transition between the rod conformation and the random coil conformation appeared to be important.

Hyaluronic Acid: The Influence of Molecular Weight on Structural, Physical, Physico-Chemical, and Degradable Properties of Biopolymer

Hyaluronic acid, as a natural linear polysaccharide, has attracted researchers' attention from its initial detection and isolation from tissues in 1934 until the present day. Due to biocompatibility and a high biodegradation of hyaluronic acid, it finds wide application in bioengineering and biomedicine: from biorevitalizing skin cosmetics and endoprostheses of joint fluid to polymeric scaffolds and wound dressings. However, the main properties of aqueous polysaccharide solutions with different molecular weights are different. Moreover, the therapeutic effect of hyaluronic acid-based preparations directly depends on the molecular weight of the biopolymer. The present review collects the information about relations between the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid and its original properties. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural, physical and physico-chemical properties of hyaluronic acid in water solutions, as well as their degradability.