Synthesis and characterization of cholic acid-containing biodegradable hydrogels by photoinduced copolymerization

Supramolecular hydrogelation with bile acid derivatives: structures, properties and applications

Bile acid derivatives can form molecular hydrogels that may be useful for drug delivery, tissue engineering and nanotemplating.

Thermoresponsiveness of copolymers bearing cholic acid pendants induced by complexation with β-cyclodextrin

Copolymers of N-alkylacrylamides and methacrylate bearing cholic acid pendant groups were synthesized via radical polymerization. The cholic acid pendant groups of such copolymers can form complexes with β-cyclodextrin, and the effect of complexation on their thermoresponsive properties was studied. The phase transition temperatures (transition from hydrophilic to hydrophobic state) of the copolymers gradually increase with the addition of β-cyclodextrin, due to the complexation of the cholic acid guest with the β-cyclodextrin host. The increase of the phase transition temperature may be reversed by the addition of a competing guest molecule, potassium 1-adamantylcarboxylate. The host-guest complexation provides a straightforward way to vary the thermoresponsive properties of such copolymers.

Surfactant-free polymeric nanoparticles composed of PEG, cholic acid and a sucrose moiety

New amphiphilic polymers synthesized from a sucrose-containing conjugate exhibited interesting self-assembly properties in water. Owing to their amphiphilic characteristics polymeric nanoparticles were prepared by a nanoprecipitation method without any surfactants. These nanoparticles formulated with biocompatible building blocks can be considered a potential candidate for drug delivery applications.