Varying the Stiffness and Diffusivity of Rod-Shaped Microgels Independently through Their Molecular Building Blocks.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
; 62(44): e202309779, 2023 10 26.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37712344
ABSTRACT
Microgels are water-swollen, crosslinked polymers that are widely used as colloidal building blocks in scaffold materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Microgels can be controlled in their stiffness, degree of swelling, and mesh size depending on their polymer architecture, crosslink density, and fabrication method-all of which influence their function and interaction with the environment. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of how the polymer composition influences the internal structure of soft microgels and how this morphology affects specific biomedical applications. In this report, we systematically vary the architecture and molar mass of polyethylene glycol-acrylate (PEG-Ac) precursors, as well as their concentration and combination, to gain insight in the different parameters that affect the internal structure of rod-shaped microgels. We characterize the mechanical properties and diffusivity, as well as the conversion of acrylate groups during photopolymerization, in both bulk hydrogels and microgels produced from the PEG-Ac precursors. Furthermore, we investigate cell-microgel interaction, and we observe improved cell spreading on microgels with more accessible RGD peptide and with a stiffness in a range of 20â
kPa to 50â
kPa lead to better cell growth.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Microgéis
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha