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<p>While eye drops are a well-accepted and convenient method for ocular drug delivery, they exhibit significant limitations such as poor drug bioavailability, low ocular residence time, pulsatile delivery profiles in the tear fluid as well as the need for patient compliance. Silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lenses have been proposed as alternative ocular drug delivery systems due to their potential for targeted delivery to the corneal surface and high oxygen permeability. The ability of novel hyaluronic acid (HA)-containing silicone hydrogel materials to release timolol maleate (TM), an antiglaucoma drug, or ketotifen fumarate (KF), an anti-histamine administered for ocular allergies, was examined.</p> <p>The releasable wetting and the therapeutic agent were added to the pre-polymer mixture of the SH during synthesis through direct entrapment, while the reaction was performed by UV induced free-radical. The impact of the wetting agent on the swellability, surface wettability, optical transparency and <em>in vitro </em>drug release was studied.</p> <p>Simultaneous drug and wetting agent incorporation resulted in modified SH materials with slightly increased water content and significantly improved surface wettability. In addition, the optical transparency of these materials was not affected by drug loading. However, direct entrapment of HA decreased their optical clarity. <em>In vitro</em> release showed that TM was released over a 14 day period, whereas KF release lasted up to 36 days. For both therapeutic agents used in the current research, non-covalent entrapment of wetting agent and its MW did not significantly change the release kinetics, however the release rate of TM was slowed and controlled by the release of the HA, due to electrostatic interactions between the protonated TM and the anionic HA.</p> <p>The development of SH materials capable of simultaneously releasing a therapeutic and a wetting agent for an extended period of time and in a sustained manner can have a significant potential as extended drug delivery systems for the treatment of front of the eye diseases while also possibly providing comfort during wear.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

<p>Injectable, in-situ gelling magnetic plum pudding hydrogel composites were fabricated by entrapping superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and thermosensitive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)-co–N-isopropylmethacrylamide (NIPMAM) microgels in a pNIPAM-hydrazide/carbohydrate-aldehyde hydrogel matrix. The resulting composites exhibited significant, repeatable pulsatile release of 4 kDa FITC-dextran upon exposure to an alternating magnetic field. The pulsatile release from the composites could be controlled by altering the volume phase transition temperatures of the microgel particles (with VPTTs over 37°C corresponding to improved pulsatile release) and changing the microgel content of the composite (with higher microgel content corresponding to higher pulsatile release). By changing the ratio of dextran-aldehyde (which deswells at physiological temperature) to CMC-aldehyde (which swells at physiological temperature) in the composites, bulk hydrogel swelling and thus pulsatile release could be controlled; specifically, lower CMC-aldehyde contents resulted in little to no composite swelling, improving pulsatile release. <em>In vitro</em> cytotoxicity testing demonstrated that the composite precursors exhibit little to no cytotoxicity up to a concentration of 2000 µg/mL. Together, these results suggest that this injectable hydrogel-microgel composite hydrogel may be a viable vehicle for <em>in vivo</em>, pulsatile drug delivery.<strong></strong></p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

The scarcity of freshwater is becoming a global challenge worldwide due to limited resources availability and increasing demand both for manufacturing and household use. For this reason, there is an important need to develop efficient, economic and sustainable desalination technologies able to take advantage of unconventional sources of water (seawater, brackish groundwater and wastewater) in order to produce freshwater. Sun is considered as the most promising abundant renewable (and free) energy source that can be employed in steam and vapor generation processes, which has a great importance in many applications such as: water desalination, domestic water heating, and power generation. This doctoral dissertation presents a study on the efficiency of different carbon based systems - nanofluids and hybrid natural composites - for the improvement of direct-solar evaporation systems, for the production of freshwater. The two main goals of this work consist of: (i) the synthesis and characterization of stable carbon-based nanofluids in water and of re-usable, economical and ecological hybrid composite materials, and (ii) the comparison of such carbon-based systems applied to water evaporation, understanding mechanisms, advantages and limitations. Carbon based materials (carbon black, graphene and multi-walled carbon nanotubes) were chosen because of their high sunlight absorption ability, unique thermal properties, as well as low cost and abundant availability. However, the hydrophobic character of such materials makes necessary to find efficient strategies to overcome this problem when dealing with water. In this work, the suspension stability of graphene-based nanofluids in water - a key parameter for the application of nanofluids in any field - was effectively improved by combining physical (by RF Sputtering coating) or chemical (by NaClO-NaBr solution) graphene surface modification treatments, and the use of common additives (Triton X-114, SDBS and gum arabic) showing different stabilization mechanisms. The best strategy to obtain long-time graphene suspension stability in water (both deionized water and saline solution with 3.5 wt% NaCl) turned out to be the combination of the easy chemical treatment with the electro-steric stabilization effect of gum arabic. In addition to nanofluids, a re-usable devices based on gum arabic cross-linked gelatin hydrogel were synthesized and characterized. Hydrophobic carbon-based materials were easily and uniformly embedded into the porous hydrogel matrix, thanks to the amphiphilic character of both gelatin and gum arabic. The effect of carbon-nanoparticles nature, morphology and concentration on the measured effective thermal conductivity of the composite material was studied and the thermal conductivity of the nanoparticles was evaluated applying several models based on the effective medium approach. The values obtained for the nanoparticles were far from the tabulated thermal conductivity values because of the combination of the composite features (such as nanoparticles concentration, Kapitza resistance) and the particles characteristics (such as aspect ratio, crystalline structure). The performance of carbon-based nanofluids and hybrid hydrogels on direct-solar evaporation of water was tested and compared to that of carbon-wood bilayer composite (which presents both hydrophilic character and natural channels for water transportation) under solar simulator. The effect of surface temperature, light-to-heat conversion efficiency of carbon-based materials, heat losses, water transport through a porous medium and suspension stability (in the case of nanofluids) were investigated in order to understand the advantages and limitations of such systems. All the tested systems were able to improve water evaporation rate and evaporation efficiency up to 70% and 82% under 1 sun and 2 suns respectively using a small amount of nanoparticles: the same amount of particles dispersed in nanofluid (0.01 wt%) was embedded into hydrogels or deposited onto wood. The high sunlight absorption ability of carbon-based nanoparticles appeared as a dominant parameter for the improvement of water evaporation rate. In fact, enhanced light absorption was directly related to a high photothermal conversion efficiency, which caused an improvement in the surface temperature, leading to a consequent enhancement in evaporation rate. It has been found that an adequate supply of water to the evaporation surface represents a fundamental parameter as well considering floating systems.

[EN] Articular cartilage is a tissue with low capacity for self-restoration due to its avascularity and low cell population. It is located on the surface of the subchondral bone covering the diarthrodial joints. Degeneration of articular cartilage can appear in athletes, in people with genetic degenerative processes (osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis) or due to a trauma; what produces pain, difficulties in mobility and progressive degeneration that finally leads to joint failure. Self-restoration is only produced when the defect reaches the subchondral bone and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) invade the defect. However, this new formed tissue is a fibrocartilaginous type cartilage and no a hyaline cartilage, which finally leads to degeneration. Transplantation of autologous chondrocytes has been proposed to regenerate articular cartilage but this therapy fails mainly to the absence of a material support (scaffold) for the adequate stimulation of cells. Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation uses a collagen hydrogel as scaffold for chondrocytes; however, it does not have the adequate mechanical properties, does not provide the biological cues for cells and regenerated tissue is not articular cartilage but fibrocartilage. Different approaches have been done until now in order to obtain a scaffold that mimics better articular cartilage properties and composition. Hydrogels are a good option as they retain high amounts of water, in a similar way to the natural tissue, and can closely mimic the composition of natural tissue by the combination of natural derived hydrogels. Their three-dimensionality plays a critical role in articular cartilage tissue engineering to maintain chondrocyte function, since monolayer culture of chondrocytes makes them dedifferentiate towards a fibroblast-like phenotype secreting fibrocartilage. Recently, injectable hydrogels have attracted attention for the tissue engineering of articular cartilage due to their ability to encapsulate cells, injectability in the injury with minimal invasive surgeries and adaptability to the shape of the defect. Following this new approach we aimed at synthesizing two new families of injectable hydrogels based on the natural protein gelatin for the tissue engineering of articular cartilage. The first series of materials consisted on the combination of injectable gelatin with loose reinforcing polymeric microfibers to obtain injectable composites with improved mechanical properties. Our results demonstrate that there is an influence of the shape and distribution of the fibers in the mechanical properties of the composite. More importantly bad fiber-matrix interaction is not able to reinforce the hydrogel. Due to this, our composites were optimized by improving matrix-fiber interaction through a hydrophilic grafting onto the microfibers, with very successful results. The second series of materials were inspired in the extracellular matrix of articular cartilage and consisted of injectable mixtures of gelatin and hyaluronic acid. Gelatin molecules in the mixtures provided integrin adhesion sites to cells, and hyaluronic acid increased the mechanical properties of gelatin. This combination demonstrated ability for the differentiation of MSCs towards the chondrocytic lineage and makes these materials very good candidates for the regeneration of articular cartilage. The last part of this thesis is dedicated to the synthesis of a non-biodegradable material with mechanical properties, swelling and permeability similar to cartilage. This material intends to be used as a platform in a bioreactor in which the typical loads of the joint are simulated, so that the hydrogels or scaffolds would fit in the recesses in the platform. The function of the platform is to simulate the effect of the surrounding tissue on the scaffold after implantation and could reduce animal experimentation by simulating in vivo conditions. / [ES] El cartílago articular es un tejido con baja capacidad de auto-reparación debida a su avascularidad y baja población celular. Se encuentra en la superficie del hueso subcondral cubriendo las articulaciones. La degeneración del cartílago articular puede aparecer en atletas, en personas con procesos genéticos degenerativos o debido a un trauma; lo que produce dolor, dificultades en la movilidad y degeneración progresiva que lleva al fallo de la articulación. La auto-reparación sólo se produce cuando el defecto alcanza el hueso subcondral y las células madre (MSCs) de la médula ósea invaden el defecto. Sin embargo, este nuevo tejido es un cartílago de tipo fibrocartilaginoso y no un cartílago hialino, el cual finalmente lleva a la degeneración. El trasplante de condrocitos autólogos ha sido propuesto para regenerar el cartílago articular pero esta terapia falla principalmente por la ausencia de un material soporte (scaffold) que estimule adecuadamente a las células. El implante de condrocitos autólogos mediante un hidrogel de colágeno no tiene las propiedades mecánicas apropiadas, no proporciona las señales biológicas a las células y el tejido regenerado no es cartílago articular sino fibrocartílago. Se han realizado diferentes enfoques para obtener un scaffold que mimetice mejor las propiedades y la composición del cartílago articular. Los hidrogeles son una buena opción ya que retienen elevadas cantidades de agua, de forma similar al tejido natural, y pueden imitar de cerca la composición del tejido natural mediante la combinación de derivados de hidrogeles naturales. Su tridimensionalidad juega un papel crítico para mantener la función de los condrocitos, ya que el cultivo en monocapa de los condrocitos hace que desdiferencien hacia un fenotipo similar al fibroblasto secretando fibrocartílago. Los hidrogeles inyectables han acaparado la atención en la ingeniería tisular de cartílago articular debido a su capacidad para encapsular células, su inyectabilidad en el daño con cirugías mínimamente invasivas y su adaptabilidad a la forma del defecto. Siguiendo este nuevo enfoque hemos sintetizado dos nuevas familias de hidrogeles inyectables basados en la proteína natural gelatina para la ingeniería tisular del cartílago articular. La primera serie de materiales combina una gelatina inyectable con microfibras poliméricas sueltas de refuerzo para obtener composites inyectables con propiedades mecánicas mejoradas. Nuestros resultados demuestran que hay una influencia de la forma y la distribución de las fibras en las propiedades mecánicas del composite. Además, la mala interacción entre las fibras y la matriz no es capaz de reforzar el hidrogel. Debido a esto, nuestros composites han sido optimizados mediante la mejora de la interacción fibra-matriz a través de un injerto hidrófilo sobre las microfibras, con resultados muy exitosos. La segunda serie de materiales se ha inspirado en la matriz extracelular del cartílago articular y ha consistido en mezclas inyectables de gelatina y ácido hialurónico. Las moléculas de gelatina proporcionan los dominios de adhesión mediante integrinas a las células, y el ácido hialurónico aumenta las propiedades mecánicas de la gelatina. Esta combinación ha demostrado la habilidad para la diferenciación de MSCs hacia el linaje condrocítico y convierte a estos materiales en buenos candidatos para la regeneración del cartílago articular. La última parte de esta tesis se dedica a la síntesis de un material no biodegradable con propiedades mecánicas, hinchado y permeabilidad similar al cartílago. Este material pretende ser empleado como plataforma en un biorreactor en el que se simulan las cargas típicas de las articulaciones, de forma que los scaffolds encajarían en los huecos de la plataforma. Su función es simular el efecto del tejido circundante en el scaffold después de su implantación y podría reducir la experimentación anim / [CA] El cartílag articular es un teixit amb baixa capacitat d'auto-reparació deguda a la seua avascularitat i baixa població cel·lular. Es troba en la superfície de l'ós subcondral cobrint les articulacions. La degeneració del cartílag articular pot aparèixer en atletes, en persones amb processos genètics degeneratius o degut a un trauma; produeix dolor, dificultats a la mobilitat i degeneració progressiva que finalment porta a la fallida de l'articulació. L'auto-reparació es produeix quan el defecte arriba fins a l'ós subcondral i les cèl·lules mare (MSCs) de la medul·la òssia envaeixen el defecte. No obstant això, aquest nou teixit format es un cartílag de tipus fibrocartilaginós i no un cartílag hialí, el qual finalment porta a la degeneració. El transplantament de condròcits autòlegs ha sigut proposat per a regenerar el cartílag articular però aquesta teràpia falla principalment per la absència d'un material de suport (scaffold) que estimuli adequadament a les cèl·lules. L'implant de condròcits autòlegs en un hidrogel de col·lagen per als condròcits no té les propietats mecàniques apropiades, no proporciona les senyals biològiques a les cèl·lules i el teixit regenerat no és cartílag articular sinó fibrocartílag. Diferents enfocs han sigut realitzats fins ara per a obtenir un scaffold que mimetitzi millor les propietats i la composició del cartílag articular. Els hidrogels son una bona opció ja que retenen elevades quantitats d'aigua, de forma similar al teixit natural, i poden imitar acuradament la composició del teixit natural mitjançant la combinació d'hidrogels naturals. La seua tridimensionalitat juga un paper crític per a mantenir la funció dels condròcits, ja que el cultiu en monocapa dels condròcits fa que aquests desdiferencien cap a un fenotip similar al fibroblàstic secretant fibrocartílag. Recentment, els hidrogels injectables han acaparat l'atenció en l' enginyeria tissular de cartílag articular degut a la seua capacitat per a encapsular cèl·lules, la seua injectabilitat en el dany amb cirurgies mínimament invasives i la seua adaptabilitat a la forma del defecte. Seguint aquesta nova aproximació hem sintetitzat dues noves famílies d'hidrogels injectables basats en la proteïna natural gelatina per a l'enginyeria tissular del cartílag articular. La primera sèrie de materials combina una gelatina injectable amb microfibres polimèriques soltes de reforç per a obtenir compòsits injectables amb propietats mecàniques millorades. Els nostres resultats demostren que hi ha una influència de la forma i la distribució de les fibres en les propietats mecàniques del compòsit. Més importantment, la mala interacció entre les fibres i la matriu no és capaç de reforçar l'hidrogel. Degut a això, els nostres compòsits han segut optimitzats mitjançant la millora de la interacció fibra-matriu a traves d'un empelt hidròfil sobre les fibres, amb resultats molt exitosos. La segona sèrie de materials està inspirada en la matriu extracel·lular del cartílag articular i ha consistit en mescles injectables de gelatina i àcid hialurònic. Les molècules de gelatina proporcionen els dominis d'adhesió mitjançant integrines a les cèl·lules, i l'àcid hialurònic augmenta les propietats mecàniques de la gelatina. Esta combinació ha demostrat l'habilitat per a la diferenciació de MSCs cap al llinatge condrocític i converteix a aquests materials en bons candidats per a la regeneració del cartílag articular. L'última part d'aquesta tesi és dedicada a la síntesi d'un material no biodegradable amb propietats mecàniques, inflat i permeabilitat similar al cartílag. Aquest material pretén ser utilitzat com a plataforma a un bioreactor que simula les cargues típiques de les articulacions, de manera que els hidrogels o scaffolds encaixarien als buits de la plataforma. La seua funció es simular l'efecte del teixit circumdant al scaffold després d / Poveda Reyes, S. (2016). Protein-based injectable hydrogels towards the regeneration of articular cartilage [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/61392 / Premios Extraordinarios de tesis doctorales

<p dir="ltr">Creating synthetic materials that mimic native tissue is an overarching goal in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. It is essential to embed molecular-resolution chemical patterning into soft synthetic polymers to achieve this. Even though fundamental principles from surface science offer broad control over the position of even individual atoms on a pristine surface, this degree of control remains restricted to two-dimensional hard crystalline materials under particular environmental conditions that are incompatible with life. Therefore, developing strategies to translate these principles into soft, amorphous interfaces is challenging<i>. </i>This will lead to the development of <i>nanopatterned soft materials</i> that closely resemble native tissue. Popular approaches in materials science fail to produce such <i>high-resolution polymers</i>.</p><p dir="ltr">Hydrogels are soft, three-dimensional networks that can hold large amounts of an aqueous solvent while retaining their structure. These materials have applicability in contexts where polymer materials must interface with biology (e.g., drug delivery, biosensing, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine) as one can easily tune their mechanical, chemical, and biological properties. However, the main limitation of these materials is that the hydrogel network is amorphous, with substantial variability in mesh size up to the micron-scale. This limits their application when highly structured interactions with biomolecules, typically at sub-10 nm scales, are required. This dissertation shows a strategy to generate 1 nm-wide ordered patterns of functional groups on polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel surfaces. When 1 nm-wide linear patterns are transferred to PAAm, patterning specific biological polyelectrolyte interactions at the hydrogel surface is possible. This represents a first step towards developing robust methods for nanopattern hydrogels at the proposed resolution.</p><p dir="ltr">One last subject this thesis dissertation seeks to explore is the extension of chemical patterning to a dynamic range of scales to adapt this technological advancement to industrial setups. Enabling the practical applicability of nanopatterned soft materials in macroscopic contexts (e.g., synthetic tissue development, wearable electronics, etc). However, extending this degree of control to a high throughput process applicable to heterogeneous interfaces remains a challenge. We demonstrated a scalable inkjet printing method to produce functional hierarchical patterns on two-dimensional crystalline substrates, which can be transferred to hydrogels. Finally, we studied the specific biosensing capabilities of these micro-patterned surfaces.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Biopharmaceuticals, such as insulin, monoclonal antibodies, growth hormones, and vaccines, have emerged as a major class of therapeutic molecules. Subcutaneous administration of biotherapeutics is a convenient drug delivery method that is less invasive, requires shorter clinic times, improves patient compliance, and reduces cost to the healthcare system compared to intravenous administration. The mass transport of a therapeutic injected into the subcutaneous tissue is dictated by physiochemical properties of the molecule such as size and electrostatic charge. The bioavailability and efficacy of the therapeutic formulation depend on efficient transport of the molecule from the injection site to lymphatic or blood vessels. The injected biotherapeutic needs to traverse complex structures of the subcutis and the extracellular matrix (ECM) before it arrives at the uptake site. In vitro transport screening platforms provide insights into the effects of tissue and therapeutic properties on macromolecular transport through biological barriers.</p><p dir="ltr">In this work, we develop an in vitro Transwell macromolecular recovery platform, an economical and high-throughput method that can be used to systematically evaluate effects of ECM components on mass transport properties of macromolecules. In Chapters 2-3, we engineer subcutaneous tissue models based on collagen type I ((Col I), the most abundant fibrillar protein in the subcutaneous ECM) and hyaluronic acid ((HA), an anionic and highly viscous polysaccharide). In Chapter 2, we optimize protocols to reproducibly fabricate Col I and combined Col I and HA (ColHA) hydrogels. In Chapter 3, we establish a workflow to characterize collagen material from different sources (animal sources, different vendors, and between batches of identical material) since inherent variabilities can occur.</p><p dir="ltr">Next, we develop and optimize a high throughput Transwell platform, and we screen the transport of macromolecules, which are representative of current therapeutics used in subcutaneous injections. We demonstrate that macromolecular transport within Col type I (Col I), blended collagen I and II (Col I/II), blended Col I and III (Col I/III), and combined Col I and HA hydrogels (ColHA) hydrogels is inversely related to the hydrodynamic radius of the diffusing macromolecules. Blending col I/II and I/III gels results in altered fibril morphologies (smaller fibrils), which decrease mass recovery rates. Increasing HA concentration within the Col I hydrogels decreases macromolecular recovery. This decrease is mainly a consequence of increased viscosity within the matrix. Recovery rates of large molecules such as immunoglobulin G (IgG), a molecule similar in size to therapeutic antibodies, were highly sensitive to HA concentration in col hydrogels. Smaller molecules, such as myoglobin and lysozyme, that are similar in size to insulin experience electrostatic effects as HA concentration increases within col gels. Recovery of macromolecules in an HA solution was a function of both electrostatic and steric interactions. The results from these studies were highly reproducible and highlighted the robustness of the optimized assay.</p><p dir="ltr">Our results thus demonstrate that the Transwell platform can be utilized for systematic evaluation of therapeutic transport as a function of molecular characteristics. The results presented can inform desirable physiochemical properties for efficient biotherapeutic transport within the subcutaneous tissue. </p><p dir="ltr">In the last main portion of the thesis, we work with elastin, another biologically derived material. In this portion, we developed an optimized method for expression and purification of elastin-like polypeptide proteins. We then present a method to chemically alter the material to introduce underwater adhesive properties to the material.</p>

Yes / Understanding the structure-property relationships of drug delivery system (DDS) components is critical for their development and the prediction of bodily performance. This study investigates the effects of introducing polyethylene oxide (PEO) homopolymers, over a wide range of molecular weights, into Pluronic injectable smart hydrogel formulations. These smart DDSs promise to enhance patient compliance, reduce adverse effects and dosing frequency. Pharmaceutically, Pluronic systems are attractive due to their unique sol-gel phase transition in the body, biocompatibility, safety and ease of injectability as solutions before transforming into gel matrices at body temperature. This paper presents a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of gelation and the interplay of microscopic and macroscopic properties under both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions in controlled environments, as measured by rheology in conjunction with time-resolved Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). The non-equilibrium conditions investigated in this work offer a better understanding of the two polymeric systems’ complex interactions affecting the matrix thermo-rheological behaviour and structure and therefore the future release of an active pharmaceutical ingredient from the injectable DDS.