RAPIDLY PHOTO-CROSSLINKED FUNCTIONAL BIODEGRADABLE HYDROGELS

摘要

Rapidly gelling functional biodegradable hydrogels were prepared through UV crosslinking of poly(D,L-lactide-co-acryloyl carbonate)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide-co-acryloyl carbonate) (PLAC-PEG-PLAC) triblock copolymers, in which the acryloyl groups were amenable to the Michael-type conjugate addition with thiol-containing bioactive molecules such as cysteine and arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-cysteine (RGDC) peptide under mild conditions. Notably, the functionalization was nearly quantitative. The swelling/degradation studies showed that hydrogels with less LA units and more AC units had longer degradation times. The combination of Michael-addition reaction with photopolymerization appears to be an elegant approach to obtain injectable bioactive hydrogels.