Multifunctional polyampholyte hydrogels with a 3-D channel as tissue regeneration scaffold

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] A major challenge in the biomedical field of biomaterials is the development of materials that resist nonspecific protein adsorption to the surface . There is a significant need for nonfouling materials for biosensor , drug delivery , immunodiagnostic, and tissue engineering applications . An ideal implantable biomaterial prevents nonspecific protein adsorption to the surface which will then considerably reduce the subsequent inflammatory responses including leukocyte activation, chronic inflammation, infection, and the failure of the implanted device . The objective of this research is to determine if the multi-functional properties of polyampholyte polymers can be combined with an integrated micro fluidic network to serve as a platform technology for microvascularized tissue engineering. Our multifunctional system was prepared from equimolar quantities of positively charged [2- (acryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethyl ammonium chloride (TMA) and negatively charged 2- carboxyethyl acrylate (CAA) monomers with a triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) cross-linker. The property of fouling resistance was demonstrated by both negatively charged fibrinogen (FBG) and positively charged lysozyme (LYZ). Then the multi-functional advantage of TMA/CAA hydrogels with 3-deminsional channels for use as tissue regeneration scaffolds was demonstrated by protein conjugation studies. In this work, multifunctional polyampholyte hydrogels with 3-D channels composed of mixtures of positively charged TMA and negatively charged CAA monomers were fully developed and characterized. The channels inside the hydrogel were shown to have resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption from both FBG and LYZ. At the same time, these hydrogels were shown to have pH-sensitive protein conjugation capabilities, while retaining their fouling resistant properties. This represents a specific approach for the development of tissue regeneration and blood vessel scaffolds from polyampholyte materials.