+34 620 10 75 37info@nanbiosis.com

Posts Taged hydrogels

You are here : Home / Posts Tagged "hydrogels"

Hydrogels structured with dual stimuli responsive for biomedical applications

Researchers of NANBIOSIS Unit 17 Confocal Microscopy Service have participated in the research carried out structuring hydrophobic domains in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-Methacrylic acid) hydrogels for biomedical aplplications.

Hydrogels are cross-linked polymeric networks, which have the ability to hold a large amount of water in their structure. Hydrogels can be designed to respond to a specific stimulus such as temperature, pH, ionic strength, light, etc., making making them suitable for biomedical applications, as drug delivery.

The most popular responsive polymeric hydrogel is made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM). The copolymerization of NIPAM with an acrylic/methacrylic acid monomer permits the development of a hydrogel with a dual stimuli response: temperature and medium pH. Additionally, the acid groups can electrostatically interact with positively charged drugs, the interaction being sensitive to pH. Therefore, these hydrogel systems have great potential for drug delivery applications.

At it seemed that the structuring of dual stimuli responsive hydrogels had not been reported, the authors deat with the structuring of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) hydrogels to create hydrophobic domains by means of copolymerization of NIPAM with methacrylic acid and a small percentage of a nitrocatechol monomer in an aqueous medium that contained SDS. This structured hydrogel allows is capable of loading hydrophobic molecules as well as charged drugs. The hydrogel permitted cell adhesion and growth as well as its detachment when the temperature fell below the LCST.

As reported in the article, fluorescence images of cells were obtained with a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) (Leica TCS-SP5) through the Confocal Microscopy Service of ICTS ‘NANBIOSIS’ U17 of the Biomedical Research Networking Centre on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN at the University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain).
equipped with a Diode 405 nm and a continuous Ar ion laser (488, 514,
561 and 633 nm).

Article of refrence:

Structuring hydrophobic domains in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-
Methacrylic acid) hydrogels. Mar López-González, M. Melia Rodrigo, Mercedes Valiente, Isabel Trabado, Francisco Mendicutib, Gema Marcelo. European Polymer Journal. April 2020 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2020.109695

• Read More

Infrared sensitive hydrogels to control the regeneration of bone tissue.

NANBIOSIS U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit has participated in a research carried out bu researchers of CIBER-BBN group FIOBI-HULP at Hospital de la Paz, led by Nuria Vilaboa. reclently published in the scientific journal Biomaterials The researchers have used transgenic cells, which are incorporated into the scaffolding, to regulate the physiological production of bone growth factors and induce the osteoinduction process.

Achievement of spatiotemporal control of growth factors production remains a main goal in tissue engineering. In the present work, we combined inducible transgene expression and near infrared (NIR)-responsive hydrogels technologies to develop a therapeutic platform for bone regeneration. A heat-activated and dimerizer-dependent transgene expression system was incorporated into mesenchymal stem cells to conditionally control the production of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2). Genetically engineered cells were entrapped in hydrogels based on fibrin and plasmonic gold nanoparticles that transduced incident energy of an NIR laser into heat. In the presence of dimerizer, photoinduced mild hyperthermia induced the release of bioactive BMP-2 from NIR-responsive cell constructs. A critical size bone defect, created in calvaria of immunocompetent mice, was filled with NIR-responsive hydrogels entrapping cells that expressed BMP-2 under the control of the heat-activated and dimerizer-dependent gene circuit. In animals that were treated with dimerizer, NIR irradiation of implants induced BMP-2 production in the bone lesion. Induction of NIR-responsive cell constructs conditionally expressing BMP-2 in bone defects resulted in the formation of new mineralized tissue, thus indicating the therapeutic potential of the technological platform.

Thanks to the participation of NANBIOSIS U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit it has been possible to explore the use of gold plasmonic nanoparticles, capable of absorbing light in the near-infrared (NIR) area and converting it into heat

Article of reference:

Sánchez-Casanova, S., Martin-Saavedra, F.M., Escudero-Duch, C., Falguera Uceda, M.I., Prieto, M., Arruebo, M., Acebo, P., Fabiilli, M.L., Franceschi, R.T., Vilaboa, N. Local delivery of bone morphogenetic protein-2 from near infrared-responsive hydrogels for bone tissue regeneration. Biomaterials 241:119909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.119909

• Read More

Cationic nioplexes in supramolecular hydrogels as hybrid materials to deliver nucleic acids

Jose Luis Pedraz, Scientific Director of Unit 10 of NANBIOSIS Drug Formulation unit and Ramon Eritja Scientific Director of Unit U29 of NANBIOSIS Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform (OSP) (CIBER-BBN) have participated in the entrapment of cationic nioplexes in supramolecular hydrogels and the use of these materials for transfecting cells.

This work is focused on entrapping cationic nioplexes within supramolecular hydrogels based on N-protected phenylalanine. To modulate the supramolecular hydrogel diffusion properties, hydrogels were easily tuned with ĸ-carrageenan (≤ 1%). These materials were fully characterized using rheology. The niosomal liberation in solution through hydrogels was monitored by fluorescence and this release was controlled by diffusion mechanisms. The lack of toxicity of these materials allowed these materials to be used in cell culture. Preliminary transfection results confirmed the suitability of entrapping niosomal formulations in supramolecular hydrogels and the potential opening up of alternative strategies in therapy.

This study was published in RSC Advances:

S. Grijalvo, G. Puras, J. Zárate, R. Pons, J.L. Pedraz, R. Eritja, D. Díaz. “Nioplexes encapsulated in supramolecular hybrid biohydrogels as versatile delivery platforms for nucleic acids” 2016, 6, 39688-39699. DOI: 10.1039/C6RA01005A

Nanbiosis_U10_Cationic nioplexes in supramolecular hydrogels as hybrid materials to deliver nucleic acids
• Read More