Electrophoretic analysis of the major polypeptides of the human erythrocyte membrane.

Hydrogels for tissue engineering.

Hydrophilic polymers are the center of research emphasis in nanotechnology because of their perceived “intelligence”. They can be used as thin films, scaffolds, or nanoparticles in a wide range of biomedical and biological applications. Here we highlight recent developments in engineering uncrosslinked and crosslinked hydrophilic polymers for these applications. Natural, biohybrid, and synthetic hydrophilic polymers and hydrogels are analyzed and their thermodynamic responses are discussed. In addition, examples of the use of hydrogels for various therapeutic applications are given. We show how such systems’ intelligent behavior can be used in sensors, microarrays, and imaging. Finally, we outline challenges for the future in integrating hydrogels into biomedical applications.

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Hydrogels in Biology and Medicine: From Molecular Principles to Bionanotechnology†

Hydrogels in pharmaceutical formulations.

Hydrogels, due to their unique biocompatibility, flexible methods of synthesis, range of constituents, and desirable physical characteristics, have been the material of choice for many applications in regenerative medicine. They can serve as scaffolds that provide structural integrity to tissue constructs, control drug and protein delivery to tissues and cultures, and serve as adhesives or barriers between tissue and material surfaces. In this work, the properties of hydrogels that are important for tissue engineering applications and the inherent material design constraints and challenges are discussed. Recent research involving several different hydrogels polymerized from a variety of synthetic and natural monomers using typical and novel synthetic methods are highlighted. Finally, special attention is given to the microfabrication techniques that are currently resulting in important advances in the field.

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Hydrogels in regenerative medicine

A B S T R A C T The contribution of the metabolic state of human erythrocytes to maintenance of cellular deformability was studied during and after in vitro incubation in serum for periods up to 28 hr. An initial loss of membrane deformability became apparent between 4 and 6 hr when cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels were approximately 70% of initial values. Membrane deformability then remained stable between 6 and 10 hr. After 10 hr, when cellular ATP had decreased to < 15% of initial values, progressive parallel changes occurred in red cell calcium which increased 400% by 24 hr and in the viscosity of red cell suspensions which had risen 500-750% at 24 hr. A further progressive decrease in membrane deformability also occurred and was reflected by a 1000% increase in negative pressure required to deform the membrane. Red cell filterability decreased to zero as the disc-sphere shape transformation ensued. These changes were accompanied by an increase in ghost residual hemoglobin and nonhemoglobin protein. Regeneration of ATP in depleted cells by incubation with adenosine produced significant reversal of these changes, even in the presence of ouabain. Introduction of calcium into reconstituted ghosts prepared from fresh red cells mimicked the depleted state, and introduction of ATP, ethylenediamine tetraacetate (EDTA), and magnesium into depleted cells mimicked the adenosine effects in intact depleted cells. ATP added externally to 24-hr depleted cells was without effect. Simultaneous

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Metabolic dependence of red cell deformability

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer, in linear and star form, was covalently grafted to silicon surfaces, and the surfaces were tested for their ability to adsorb proteins. Linear PEG of molecular weight 3400, 10 000, and 20 000 g/mol and star PEO molecules were coupled via their terminal hydroxyl groups activated by tresyl chloride to aminosilane-treated silicon wafers. The amount of PEO coupled to the surface was varied by changing the concentration of the tresyl-PEO solution. The dry PEO thickness on the surface was measured using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ellipsometry, from which the grafting density was calculated. The PEO surfaces were exposed to solutions of each of three proteins: cytochrome-c, albumin, and fibronectin. The degree of adsorption of each protein was determined by XPS and ellipsometry and recorded as a function of PEO grafting density. All three proteins were found to reach zero adsorption at the highest grafting densities on all three PEG surfaces, which for all three PEG surfaces was a PEO content of 100 +/- 10 ng/cm2. On both star PEO surfaces, albumin and fibronectin decreased to zero adsorption at intermediate values of grafting density, whereas cytochrome-c continued to adsorb at all grafting densities, although with a decreasing trend. A physical model of the surface helped explain these protein adsorption results in terms of the spacing and degree of overlap of grafted PEO chains.

Poly(ethylene oxide) Grafted to Silicon Surfaces: Grafting Density and Protein Adsorption.

Gamma sterilization of UHMWPE articular implants: an analysis of the oxidation problem

Transparent crosslinked PVA hydrogels were prepared by electron beam irradiation of aqueous solutions under nitrogen. These weak hydrogels, upon swelling at 30°C in water, showed low elastic moduli (up to 50 psi), low ultimate tensile strength (up to 4 psi), and low extensibility to break (not higher than 85%). Values of the molecular weight between crosslinks Mc were calculated from swelling and from tensile experiments. In fact, two values of Mc were calculated for each swelling experiment, (a) allowing for observed variation in the polymer–solvent interaction parameter χ1 with concentration, and (b) fixing χ1 = 0.494 according to literature data. The correlation of the Mc obtained from tensile data with the Mc obtained from swelling data, by (a) or (b), was approximately linear and gave the same per cent agreement.

Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels as swollen elastic networks

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1967.

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Edward W. Merrill

Papers

Metabolic dependence of red cell deformability

Poly(ethylene oxide) Grafted to Silicon Surfaces: Grafting Density and Protein Adsorption.

Gamma sterilization of UHMWPE articular implants: an analysis of the oxidation problem

Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels as swollen elastic networks

The Toms phenomenon: turbulent pipe flow of dilute polymer solutions