Thermogelling, ABC Triblock Copolymer Platform for Resorbable Hydrogels with Tunable, Degradation-Mediated Drug...

Clinical application of injectable, thermoresponsive hydrogels is hindered by lack of degradability and controlled drug release. To overcome these challenges, a family of thermoresponsive, ABC triblock polymer-based hydrogels has been engineered to degrade and release drug cargo through either oxidative or hydrolytic/enzymatic mechanisms dictated by the "A" block composition. Three ABC triblock copolymers are synthesized with varying "A" blocks, including oxidation-sensitive poly(propylene sulfide), slow hydrolytically/enzymatically degradable poly(ε-caprolactone), and fast hydrolytically/enzymatically degradable poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide), forming the respective formulations PPS₁₃₅-b-PDMA₁₅₂-b-PNIPAAM₂₂₅ (PDN), PCL₈₅-b-PDMA₁₅₀-b-PNIPAAM₁₅₀ (CDN), and PLGA₆₀-b-PDMA₁₄₈-b-PNIPAAM₁₅₂ (LGDN). For all three polymers, hydrophilic poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) and thermally responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) comprise the "B" and "C" blocks, respectively. These copolymers form micelles in aqueous solutions at ambient temperature that can be preloaded with small molecule drugs. These solutions quickly transition into hydrogels upon heating to 37 °C, forming a supra-assembly of physically crosslinked, drug-loaded micelles. PDN hydrogels are selectively degraded under oxidative conditions while CDN and LGDN hydrogels are inert to oxidation but show differential rates of hydrolytic/enzymatic decomposition. All three hydrogels are cytocompatible in vitro and in vivo, and drug-loaded hydrogels demonstrate differential release kinetics in vivo corresponding with their specific degradation mechanism. These collective data highlight the potential cell and drug delivery use of this tunable class of ABC triblock polymer thermogels.