Sulfonamide functionalized amino acid-based pH- and temperature-sensitive biodegradable injectable hydrogels: Synthesis, physicochemical characterization and in vivo degradation kinetics

In this research, a novel pH and temperature-sensitive biodegradable oligomer serin-b-poly(lactide)-b-poly (ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactide)-b- oligomer serin (OS-PLA-PEG-PLA-OS) pentablock copolymer was synthesized with modification of serine to sulfonamide group. The properties of the different pentablock copolymer structures were detail characterized. The copolymer solution easily flowed at high pH and changed to gel state at physiological conditions (37 degrees C, pH 7.4). The sol to gel behavior of these block copolymer solutions were controllable by tuning the length of PEG segment, PLA/PEG block ratio, the molecular weight and the concentration of the pentablock copolymer. The in vivo gelation of the copolymer solution was investigated. The stable gel was formed after injection into the back of the adult male Mus musculus Swiss Albino mice. The degradation process was observed after 6 weeks and showed that the hydrogel depot was bioresorbable without any detection of inflammation sign. The results in this study suggest that the OS-PLA-PEG-PLA-OS pentablock copolymer has the potential application as an injectable delivery vehicle for therapeutic drugs that easily denatured at low-pH condition.