Reductively Degradable Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Hydrogels with Oriented Porosity for Tissue Engineering Applications

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 9; no. 12; pp. 10544 - 10553
• Main Authors: Macková, Hana, Plichta, Zdeněk, Hlídková, Helena, Sedláček, Ondřej, Konefal, Rafal, Sadakbayeva, Zhansaya, Dušková-Smrčková, Miroslava, Horák, Daniel, Kubinová, Šárka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 29.03.2017
• Subjects: Humans; Hydrogels; Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate - chemistry; Porosity; Tissue Engineering; oriented porosity; 2-(acethylthio)ethyl methacrylate; hydrogel; reductively degradable; poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate); 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b01513

Degradable poly­(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels were prepared from a linear copolymer (M w = 49 kDa) of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2-(acethylthio)­ethyl methacrylate (ATEMA), and zwitterionic 2-methacryloyl­oxyethyl phosphoryl­choline (MPC). The deprotection of ATEMA thiol groups by triethylamine followed by their gentle oxidation with 2,2′-dithiodipyridine resulted in the formation of reductively degradable polymers with disulfide bridges. Finally, a hydrogel 3D structure with an oriented porosity was obtained by gelation of the polymer in the presence of needle-like sodium acetate crystals. The pore diameter and porosity of resulting poly­(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-2-(acethylthio)­ethyl methacrylate-co-2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) [P­(HEMA-ATEMA-MPC)] hydrogels varied between 59 and 65 μm and between 70 and 79.6 vol % according to Hg porosimetry, and complete degradation of these materials was reached in 86 days in 0.33 mmol solution of l-cysteine/L in phosphate buffer. The cross-linked P­(HEMA-ATEMA-MPC) hydrogels were evaluated as a possible support for human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). No cytotoxicity was found for the un-cross-linked thiol-containing and protected P­(HEMA-ATEMA-MPC) chains up to a concentration of 5 and 1 wt % in α-minimum essential medium, respectively.