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Published on: October 29, 2013
Biodegradation of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and poly{(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-[poly(ethylene
Ylenia S Casadio1, David H Brown, Traian V Chirila
1Chemistry M313, School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, W.A. 6009, Australia, Nanochemistry Research Institute, Department of Chemistry, Curtin University of Technology, Kent St, Bentley, W.A. 6102, Australia, Queensland Eye Institute, 41 Annerley Road, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia, Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland 4006, Australia, Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, Chemistry Building 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7, and Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 974, Taiwan, ROC.
Abstract:
PHEMA-peptide and P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)]-peptide conjugate hydrogels [where PHEMA = poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate; PEGMA = poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate] were readily prepared via photoinitiated free-radical polymerization in water. The PHEMA-peptide hydrogels were opaque and had a heterogeneous morphology of interconnected polymer droplets, characteristic of polymers that separate from the aqueous phase during the polymerization experiment. The P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)]-peptide conjugates were transparent gels with a homogeneous morphology when formed in water, but when formed in aqueous NaCl solutions the P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)]-peptide conjugates were also opaque and exhibited the heterogeneous morphology of interconnected polymer droplets. When incubated in solutions containing activated papain, P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)]-peptide conjugates underwent degradation that was characterized by macroscopic changes to sample shape and size, sample weight, and microscopic structure. PHEMA-peptide conjugates did not undergo any significant degradation when incubated with papain, although ninhydrin-staining experiments suggested that some peptide cross-linker groups were cleaved during the incubation. The difference in degradation behavior of PHEMA-peptide and P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)]-peptide conjugates is attributed to differences in aqueous solubility of PHEMA and P[HEMA-co-(MeO-PEGMA)].
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