Mechanoresponsive Metal-Organic Cage-Crosslinked Polymer Hydrogels.
Robin KüngAnne GermannMarcel KrüsmannLouisa P NiggemannJan MeisnerMatthias KargRobert GöstlBernd M SchmidtPublished in: Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2023)
We report the formation of metal-organic cage-crosslinked polymer hydrogels. To enable crosslinking of the cages and subsequent network formation, we used homodifunctionalized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains terminally substituted with bipyridines as ligands for the Pd 6 L 4 corners. The encapsulation of guest molecules into supramolecular self-assembled metal-organic cage-crosslinked hydrogels, as well as ultrasound-induced disassembly of the cages with release of their cargo, is presented in addition to their characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, rheology, and comprehensive small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments. The constrained geometries simulating external force (CoGEF) method and barriers using a force-modified potential energy surface (FMPES) suggest that the cage-opening mechanism starts with the dissociation of one pyridine ligand at around 0.5 nN. We show the efficient sonochemical activation of the hydrogels HG 3 -6 , increasing the non-covalent guest-loading of completely unmodified drugs available for release by a factor of ten in comparison to non-crosslinked, star-shaped assemblies in solution.
Keyphrases
- hyaluronic acid
- water soluble
- magnetic resonance
- drug delivery
- high resolution
- drug release
- extracellular matrix
- single molecule
- magnetic resonance imaging
- tissue engineering
- high glucose
- wound healing
- molecular docking
- contrast enhanced
- ultrasound guided
- risk assessment
- human health
- contrast enhanced ultrasound
- endothelial cells
- electron microscopy