2025/01/01 by Yingying Ji, Yitao Sun, Yu Zhang +2 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · Materials Science · #Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications #Wound Healing and Treatments #Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials
paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/epoly-2024-0105
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/11/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
Abstract Injectable hydrogels have gained massive attention in the past decade due to the simple operation, the ability to fill irregularly shaped wounds, and high safety. Herein, we design a PEGylated polypeptide with reactive oxygen species (ROS) responsiveness for injectable hydrogel. In brief, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(2-methylthioethyl L-glutamate) was synthesized by ring opening polymerization of N -carboxylic anhydride with thioether group. The obtained amphiphilic copolymer could self-assemble into micelles, which underwent a sol–gel phase transition at 35°C. Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance, dynamic light scattering, and circular dichroism measurements indicated that the partial dehydration of poly(ethylene glycol), the aggregation of micelles, and the change of β-sheet packing of PMLG 15 as temperature increasing were regarded as the main driving forces of gelation. The formed hydrogel was disrupted by 10 mM H 2 O 2 due to the oxidation of hydrophobic thioether groups into hydrophilic sulfoxides. Furthermore, in vitro experiment showed that the hydrogels consisting of thioether groups exhibited cytoprotective ability against the damage of H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress to L929 cells. Finally, the aqueous solution of this copolymer rapidly transformed into gel after being injected into the subcutaneous layer of mice.