Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.25, No.8, 867-872, 2004
Dextran hydrogels containing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) as grafts and cross-linkers exhibiting enzymatic regulation in a specific temperature range
Specific temperature-responsive biodegradable hydrogels were synthesized and characterized in terms of their regulation of enzymatic accessibility based on the physical properties of the temperature-responsive polymers. The hydrogels consist of glycidyl methacrylate-modified dextran grafted with the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) homopolymer, and cross-linked by co-polymerization with NIPAAm and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAAm). The coil-globule change in the grafted poly (NIPAAm) chains and only a slight dehydration of the poly(NIPAAm-co-DMAAm) cross-liners are effective in controlling the enzymatic degradation over a specific temperature range.