Long-acting hydrogel
Protein hydrogel for drug delivery has been developed
A group of scientists from the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University (USA) has created the first biocompatible This hydrogel - an important step for the future of drug delivery, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, according to the NYU TANDON website. The development is described in an article published in the journal Biomacromolecules (Hill et al., Thermoresponsive Protein-Engineered Coiled-Coil Hydrogel for Sustained Small Molecule Release).
Hydrogels are three–dimensional polymer networks that turn from a solution into a gel in response to physical or chemical influences - for example, temperature or acidic environment. In these polymer matrices, as in a capsule, it is possible to place loads, such as small molecules. The new hydrogel consists of a single protein domain (a section of the protein polypeptide chain) and passes from solution to gel at low temperatures. It exhibits many of the same properties as synthetic hydrogel. Its main advantage is biocompatibility, so it is better to use it in biomedicine.
An illustration of how a constructed protein self-organizes to form fiber-based hydrogels at low temperature. Figure from the article in Biomacromolecules – VM.
In their experiment, the scientists placed a curcumin molecule in a hydrogel. They found that the hydrogel stabilizes due to the molecular interweaving of protein nanofibers, creating a porous matrix capable of binding a small molecule that is afraid of water. Together with this molecule, the entanglement of the fibers increases, which ensures the mechanical integrity and thermal stability of the hydrogel. Due to this, the hydrogel, entering the human body, is destroyed more slowly, and the drug is released longer.
In the future, researchers will try to develop protein hydrogels that can respond to certain temperatures for various drug delivery applications.
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