Uniform hollow-structured poly(vinyl amine) hydrogel microparticles with controlled mesh property and enhanced cell adhesion

Abstract

This study introduces a useful approach for fabrication of hollow-structured hydrogel microparticles and for encapsulation of biomacromolecules in the hollow core of the particles. Monodisperse hollow-structured poly(vinyl amine) hydrogel particles were fabricated without using templates that combines the dispersion polymerization and the sequential hydrolysis/crosslinking. The hydrogel shell showed pH-dependent mesh sizes; similar to 2 nm at a normal condition (pH 3-12) and similar to 11 nm at an expanded condition (pH 2). By taking advantage of pH-responsive mesh property, we demonstrated that dextran macromolecules, whose hydrodynamic radius is between the mesh sizes of the normal and expanded pH conditions, could be encapsulated and stored inside of the shell. Moreover, our hydrogel particles showed strong adhesion to human cells. Some of them were even engulfed by the cell membrane and drawn into the cell even with no aid of site-specific moieties. From these results, it is expected that the hydrogel hollow microcapsules synthesized in this study could be used for delivery of macromolecules into the cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This work was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded by the Korea government (MEST) (No. 313-2008-2-D00268) and by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP) (No. 2008-0061891). This research was also supported by ‘‘Development of Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques using BT/NT Fusion Technology’’ project of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MEK) of Korea. J. H. Han and J. Kim equally contributed to this work