Ultrasound-triggered disruption and self-healing of reversibly cross-linked hydrogels for drug delivery and enhanced chemotherapy.

ABSTRACT: Biological systems are exquisitely sensitive to the location and timing of physiologic cues and drugs. This spatiotemporal sensitivity presents opportunities for developing new therapeutic approaches. Polymer-based delivery systems are used extensively for attaining localized, sustained release of bioactive molecules. However, these devices typically are designed to achieve a constant rate of release. We hypothesized that it would be possible to create digital drug release, which could be accelerated and then switched back off, on demand, by applying ultrasound to disrupt ionically cross-linked hydrogels. We demonstrated that ultrasound does not permanently damage these materials but enables nearly digital release of small molecules, proteins, and condensed oligonucleotides. Parallel in vi

SUBMITTER: Huebsch N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4103344 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature