Fast-Forming Dissolvable Redox-Responsive Hydrogels: Exploiting the Orthogonality of Thiol-Maleimide and Thiol-Disulfide Exchange Chemistry.

ABSTRACT: Fast-forming yet easily dissolvable hydrogels (HGs) have potential applications in wound healing, burn incidences, and delivery of therapeutic agents. Herein, a combination of a thiol-maleimide conjugation and thiol-disulfide exchange reaction is employed to fabricate fast-forming HGs which rapidly dissolve upon exposure to dithiothreitol (DTT), a nontoxic thiol-containing hydrophilic molecule. In particular, maleimide disulfide-terminated telechelic linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymer and PEG-based tetrathiol macromonomers are employed as gel precursors, which upon mixing yield HGs within a minute. The selectivity of the thiol-maleimide conjugation in the presence of a disulfide linkage was established through ¹H NMR spectroscopy and Ellman's test. Rapid degradation of H

SUBMITTER: Altinbasak I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9472223 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature