Dendrimer-based Hydrogels with Controlled Drug Delivery Property for Tissue Adhesion

In recent years, the hydrogel-based tissue adhesives have been extensively investigated for their excellent biocompatibility and the ability to be administered directly within the adherent tissue. To meet the requirement for more controllable release in various physiological settings, the components of hydrogel adhesive should be more precisely tailored. In this work, the POSS-ace-PEG hydrogel adhesive was fabricated with the polyacetal dendrimer G1’-[NH 3 Cl] 16 and poly(ethylene glycol) succinimidyl carbonate (PEG-SC) due to the regular peripheral amino structure of G1’-[NH 3 Cl] 16 . Rheological and adhesion tests demonstrated that the hydrogel adhesive had good mechanical and adhesive properties, which could effectively adhere to the pigskin and severed nerves. Moreover, the tissue adhesive exhibited good stability under neutral conditions and the rapid degradation under acidic conditions, allowing for the release of doxycycline hydrochloride (DOX) drug in response to pH. Together, these results suggested that the POSS-ace-PEG adhesive had the potential to provide an alternative to tissue adhesives for applications in pathological environments (inflammation, tumors, etc. ).