Synthesis of gelatin methacryloyl analogs and their use in the fabrication of pH-responsive microspheres
Date
2024
Authors
Valente, Karolina
Boice, Genevieve Nicole
Polglase, Cameron
Belli, Roman
Bourque, Elaina
Suleman, Afzal
Brolo, Alexandre G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pharmaceutics
Abstract
pH-responsive hydrogels have numerous applications in tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and diagnostics. Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is a biocompatible, semi-synthetic polymer prepared from gelatin. When combined with aqueous solvents, GelMA forms hydrogels that have extensive applications in biomedical engineering. GelMA can be produced with different degrees of methacryloyl substitution; however, the synthesis of this polymer has not been tuned towards producing selectively modified materials for single-component pH-responsive hydrogels. In this work, we have explored two different synthetic routes targeting different gelatin functional groups (amine, hydroxyl, and/or carboxyl) to produce two GelMA analogs: gelatin A methacryloyl glycerylester (polymer A) and gelatin B methacrylamide (polymer B). Polymers A and B were used to fabricate pH-responsive hydrogel microspheres in a flow-focusing microfluidic device. At neutral pH, polymer A and B microspheres displayed an average diameter of ~40 µm. At pH 6, microspheres from polymer A showed a swelling ratio of 159.1 ± 11.5%, while at pH 10, a 288.6 ± 11.6% swelling ratio was recorded for polymer B particles.
Description
Keywords
pH-responsive hydrogel, gelatin methacryloyl, hydrogel microspheres, flow-focusing microfluidic device, drug delivery systems, Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technology (CAMTEC)
Citation
Valente, K., Boice, G. N., Polglase, C., Belli, R. G., Bourque, E., Suleman, A., & Brolo, A. (2024). Synthesis of gelatin methacryloyl analogs and their use in the fabrication of PH-Responsive microspheres. Pharmaceutics, 16(8), 1016. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16081016