PNVCL‐PEGMA nanohydrogels with tailored transition temperature for controlled delivery of 5‐fluorouracil

Abstract

Sensitive nanohydrogels were prepared via surfactant free emulsion copolymerization of N‐vinylcaprolactam and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate, and either N‐vinylpyrrolidone (VP) or 2‐methacryloyloxybenzoic acid (2MBA) to adjust the transition temperature (Ttr). The crosslinker ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was used for the polymer network construction. The resulting nanohydrogel sizes are between 120 and 300 nm. ρ‐Parameter, obtained from light scattering studies, suggests that core‐sell nanogels of flexible chains were obtained. Ttr increases with increasing comonomer content (VP or 2MBA) and decreases with decreasing pH for 2MBA containing nanohydrogels. Nanohydrogels containing 15.5% of 2MBA exhibit Ttr close to 38 °C. Nanogels are able to control the release of the loaded antineoplastic drug 5‐fluorouracil. For the prepared T/pH‐sensitive nanogels, the release is slower at pH 7.4 and 37 °C than at tumor conditions: pH 6 and 40 °C. Mathematical models were applied to evaluate the kinetics of drug release; Peppas model fitted best indicating a Fickian diffusion trough a sphere. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 2662–2672

Poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogel: from a brittle material to a nanofilled semi‐interpenetrating polymer network with potential application in wound dressings

“…The 1 H NMR spectrum of the nanogels is shown in Fig. , which shows the expected signals reported in other works; a couple of signals can be used to demonstrate the inclusion of the copolymer moieties in the nanogel structure . The signal at 3.63 ppm corresponds to the hydrogens in the methylenes of the PEG repetitive unit (H f ), and the signal at 2.47 ppm corresponds to the hydrogens in the methylene in the ring structure of PNVCL adjacent to the carbonyl group (H b , H d , H e ).…”

The emulsion polymerization induced self-assembly of a thermoresponsive polymer poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)

“…Studied application fields for PNVCL include its use in drug delivery, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] nanoreactors for catalysis, 12,13 enzyme entrapping, 14 dye-affinity chromatography, 15 wastewater treatment, 16 flocculation 17 and thermoswitchable pressure sensitive adhesives. 18,19 A more comprehensive description of possible applications can be found in a recent review by Cortez-Lemus and Licea-Claverie.…”

“…PNVCL based particles, which are essentially colloidal hydrogels, have been intensely studied for different biomedical applications, especially for cancer drug delivery. [4][5][6][7][8]11,40,41 The PNVCL particles are typically synthesized via free-radical emulsion/ precipitation polymerization at temperatures were PNVCL is not soluble. [4][5][6][7][8]11,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] The downsides of the method include the presence of free polymer (not bound to the particles), uneven crosslinking in the particles, and the difficulty of removing surfactants from the product.…”

In-Situ Forming pH and Thermosensitive Injectable Hydrogels to Stimulate Angiogenesis: Potential Candidates for Fast Bone Regeneration Applications

“…These hydrogels showed elastic, biodegradable and biocompatible features with adipose derived cells for soft tissue engineering applications [16]. Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), (PNVCL) based nanogels have shown antiviral activity against HIV-virus [17] whereas PNVCL-PEGMA based nanogels have shown great potential in 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) drug delivery systems [18]. Poly(VCL-co-UA), Poly(vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) and Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based microgels have been promising candidates in controlled drug delivery of anticancer drugs, such as, doxorubicin [19][20][21].…”