Haag SL, Bernards MT. Polyampholyte Hydrogels in Biomedical Applications.
Gels 2017;
3:E41. [PMID:
30920536 PMCID:
PMC6318660 DOI:
10.3390/gels3040041]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2017] [Revised: 11/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Polyampholytes are a class of polymers made up of positively and negatively charged monomer subunits. Polyampholytes offer a unique tunable set of properties driven by the interactions between the charged monomer subunits. Some tunable properties of polyampholytes include mechanical properties, nonfouling characteristics, swelling due to changes in pH or salt concentration, and drug delivery capability. These characteristics lend themselves to multiple biomedical applications, and this review paper will summarize applications of polyampholyte polymers demonstrated over the last five years in tissue engineering, cryopreservation and drug delivery.
Collapse