Development of hydrogel-like biomaterials via nanoparticle assembly and solid-hydrogel transformation.

ABSTRACT: Hydrogels for biomedical applications such as controlled drug release are usually synthesized with the chemical or physical crosslinking of monomers or macromers. In this work, we used gelatin to prepare hydrogel nanoparticles and studied whether gelatin nanoparticles (GNPs) could assemble to form a solid biomaterial and whether this solid biomaterial was capable of transforming into a hydrogel upon introduction to a hydrated environment. The data show that GNPs with or without aptamer functionalization could form a nanoparticle-assembled porous solid biomaterial after freezing and lyophilization treatment. This formation did not need any additional crosslinking reactions. More importantly, this solid biomaterial could undergo solid-to-hydrogel transition after contacting a solution and th

SUBMITTER: Coyne J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6954609 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature