Degradable low-fouling hydrogels are ideal vehicles for drug and cell delivery. For each application, hydrogel degradation rate must be re-optimized for maximum therapeutic benefit. We developed a method to rapidly tune degradation rates of low-fouling poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (P(EG)xMA) hydrogels by modifying two interdependent variables: (1) base-catalyzed crosslink degradation kinetics, dependent on crosslinker electronics (electron withdrawing groups (EWGs)); and (2) polymer hydration, dependent on the molecular weight (MW) of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) pendant groups. By controlling EWG strength and PEG pendant group MW, P(EG)xMA hydrogels were tuned to degrade over 6 to 52 d. A six-member P(EG)xMA copolymer library yielded slow and fast degrading low-fouling hydrogels for short- and long-term delivery applications. The degradation mechanism was also applied to RGD-functionalized poly(carboxybetaine methacrylamide) (PCBMAA) hydrogels to achieve slow (52 d) and fast (13 d) degrading low-fouling, bioactive hydrogels. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / The delivery of drugs and cells to disease sites is hindered by transport barriers, which can be overcome through local delivery. Injectable hydrogels can serve as local depots that release drugs or cells to improve therapeutic benefit. Currently, however, hydrogels suffer from uncontrolled degradation in the body, degrading at unpredictable rates dependent on the local environment; hydrogels with predictable and tunable degradation rates are therefore required. Herein, we report a method to produce a library of polymers that in situ crosslink to form hydrogels with a range of degradation rates only influenced by the local environments pH, a known quantity. Moreover, the polymers are low-fouling and therefore have minimal non-specific interactions with biomolecules and cells, which improves biocompatibility.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/24791 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Shoaib, Muhammad |
| Contributors | Wylie, Ryan, Chemistry |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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