Self-Immolative Dendritic Hydrogels
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive hydrogels have attracted significant research interest as they exhibit triggerable drug release or changes in mechanical properties. Hydrogels containing dendrimers have also been targeted as their multiple functional groups provide enhanced crosslinking or chemical conjugation. Self-immolative dendrimers (SIDs) fragment in response to a stimulus event, but they have not been explored for the preparation of stimuli-responsive hydrogels. This thesis reports the preparation of hydrogels from a 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) polymer and SIDs composed of a photosensitive o-nitrobenzyl carbonate core. The gel content and equilibrium water content were examined as a function of the hydrogel formulation. Hydrogel degradation was demonstrated using 1H NMR spectroscopy and measurements of the mechanical properties before and after degradation. The loading and release of the drug celecoxib from the hydrogels was also investigated. This work introduces a new implantable stimuli-responsive dendritic hydrogel platform that can potentially be used for the delivery of celecoxib or cell encapsulation and release.