Aldehyde-functional thermoresponsive diblock copolymer worm gels exhibit strong mucoadhesion

Brotherton, E. E., Neal, T. J., Kaldybekov, D. B., Smallridge, M. J., Khutoryanskiy, V. V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7221-2630 and Armes, S. P. (2022) Aldehyde-functional thermoresponsive diblock copolymer worm gels exhibit strong mucoadhesion. Chemical Science, 13 (23). pp. 6888-6898. ISSN 1478-6524 doi: 10.1039/D2SC02074B

Abstract/Summary

A series of thermoresponsive diblock copolymer worm gels is prepared via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) aqueous dispersion polymerization of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate using a water-soluble methacrylic precursor bearing pendent cis-diol groups. Selective oxidation using an aqueous solution of sodium periodate affords the corresponding aldehyde-functional worm gels. The aldehyde groups are located within the steric stabilizer chains and the aldehyde content can be adjusted by varying the periodate/cis-diol molar ratio. These aldehyde-functional worm gels are evaluated in terms of their mucoadhesion performance with the aid of a fluorescence microscopy-based assay. Using porcine urinary bladder mucosa as a model substrate, we demonstrate that these worm gels offer a comparable degree of mucoadhesion to that afforded by chitosan, which is widely regarded to be a ‘gold standard’ positive control in this context. The optimum degree of aldehyde functionality is approximately 30%: lower degrees of functionalization lead to weaker mucoadhesion, whereas higher values compromise the desirable thermoresponsive behavior of these worm gels.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/105426
Identification Number/DOI	10.1039/D2SC02074B
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > School of Pharmacy > Pharmaceutics Research Group
Publisher	Royal Society of Chemistry
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