A novel synthetic tissue-adhesive hydrogel using a crosslinkable polymeric micelle

We prepared a novel tissue-adhesive hydrogel by using a polymeric micelle consisting of an aldehyde-terminated poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide) (PEG-PLA) block polymer. A Schiff base is chemically formed between the amino groups in a polyallylamine and the aldehyde groups on the surface of polymeric micelles. The hydrogel was formed in approximately 2 s when the polymeric micelle solution and polyallylamine solution are mixed in vitro. The hydrogel was rapidly formed in vivo, and it adhered to a tissue surface. Our novel tissue-adhesive hydrogel creates no risk of infectious contaminations, because it consists of only synthetic materials. Further, PEG and PLA are known to be biocompatible and noncytotoxic. The results obtained in the present study show that a hydrogel prepared by the formation of a Schiff base between aldehyde and amine groups will potentially address the need for novel tissue-adhesive materials.