Arbitrarily-shaped microgels composed of chemically unmodified biopolymers

Biohydrogels, composed of naturally occurring biopolymers are typically preferred over their synthetic analogues in bioapplications thanks to their biocompatibility, bioactivity, mechanical or degradation properties. Shaping biohydrogels on the single-cell length scales (micrometers) is a key abilit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biomaterials science 2020-06, Vol.8 (11), p.344-351
Main Authors: Vakkipurath Kodakkadan, Yadu N, Idzakovicova, Kristyna, Sepitka, Josef, ten Napel, Daniël, Safai, Eric, Cigler, Petr, Št pánek, Frantisek, Rehor, Ivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alginates
Alginates - chemistry
Biocompatibility
Biopolymers
Biopolymers - chemistry
Chitosan
Crosslinking
Dextrans - chemistry
Fluorescence
Hydrogels - chemistry
Iridoids - chemistry
Methacrylates - chemistry
Microgels
Microgels - chemistry
Micrometers
Pharmaceuticals
Photolithography
Polysaccharides
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Summary:Biohydrogels, composed of naturally occurring biopolymers are typically preferred over their synthetic analogues in bioapplications thanks to their biocompatibility, bioactivity, mechanical or degradation properties. Shaping biohydrogels on the single-cell length scales (micrometers) is a key ability needed to create bioequivalent artificial cell/tissue constructs and cannot be achieved with current methods. This work introduces a method for photolithographic synthesis of arbitrarily shaped microgels composed purely of a biopolymer of choice. The biopolymer is mixed with a sacrificial photocrosslinkable polymer, and the mixture is photocrosslinked in a lithographic process, yielding anisotropic microgels with the biopolymer entrapped in the network. Subsequent ionic or covalent biopolymer crosslinking followed by template cleavage yields a microgel composed purely of a biopolymer with the 3D shape dictated by the photocrosslinking process. Method feasibility is demonstrated with two model polysaccharide biopolymers (alginate, chitosan) using suitable crosslinking methods. Next, alginate microgels were used as microtaggants on a pharmaceutical oral solid dose formulation to prevent its counterfeiting. Since the alginate is approved as an additive in the food and pharmaceutical industries, the presented tagging system can be implemented in practical use much easier than systems comprising synthetic polymers. We introduce a method for photolithographic synthesis of arbitrarily shaped microgels composed purely of a biopolymer of choice.
ISSN:2047-4830
2047-4849
DOI:10.1039/c9bm02056j