Hybrid Hydrogels with Swelling Transitions Modulated by Protein Domains

9807287 Stewart该项目的目的是通过将合成的水溶性聚合物与充分表征的蛋白质结构域交联来产生响应性水凝胶。 这些水凝胶将是独特的，因为它们的环境响应性将由蛋白质交联决定或调节，这可以赋予水凝胶特别适用于受控药物递送应用的性质。 该项目可能会导致一类新的水凝胶，对环境刺激具有新的反应;可以使用分子遗传学来调整交联结构的反应。 在药物递送领域，肌联蛋白交联水凝胶的最大影响可能是其作为脉冲释放药物载体的潜力。 尽管目前大多数用于脉冲药物递送的方法需要外部信号来触发药物释放，但由于水凝胶的固有化学和物理性质，具有阶梯式溶胀转变的水凝胶将导致药物释放的周期性上升和下降。 ***

9807287 Stewart The objective of this project is to create responsive hydrogels by crosslinking synthetic water-soluble polymers with well-characterized protein domains. These hydrogels will be unique because their environmental responsiveness will be determined or modulated by the protein crosslinks, which may give the hydrogels properties particularly useful for controlled drug delivery applications. This project could lead to a new class of hydrogels with novel responses to environmental stimuli; responses that can be fine-tuned using molecular genetics to adjust the crosslink structure. In the area of drug delivery, the greatest impact of titin-crosslinked hydrogels may be their potential as pulsed-release drug carriers. Whereas most current approaches for pulsed drug delivery require an external signal to trigger drug release, a hydrogel with a stepped swelling transition would result in a periodic rise and fall of drug release as a result of the intrinsic chemical and physical properties of the hydrogel. ***