CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The development of sensitive molecular nanostructures with well-defined particle architecture is of interest in biomedical applications as drug delivery, pH-sensors, and imaging agents. Special interest has been devoted to nanogels (NGs) which are high molecular weight cross-linked polymers that combine the characteristics of dendritic polymers with cross-linked macroscopic gels, to yield soluble particles in the useful size range between 20 and 350 nm. Stimuli-sensitive NGs are polymeric particles consisting of a cross-linked, three-dimensional network that can respond to local environmental conditions. They can shrink or swell rapidly by expelling or absorbing water in response to external stimuli such as temperature, pH, electrical, and magnetic fields. Thermoresponsive polymers have been shown to have great potential in several fields. Poli(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) has been the gold standard for temperature-sensitive applications, because aqueous solution of PNIPAm undergo a reversible phase-transition temperature close to the physiological temperature (32-33 °C). The use of PNIPAm in the biomedical field, however, has been limited due to its lack of water solubility above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), its non specific protein absorption, and its poor biocompatible profile. Several publications have reported the potential of dendritic polyglycerol scaffolds with thermoresponsive properties.The main objetive of this work was the synthesis of well definite and homogeneous thermosensitive NGs based on PNIPAm and hyperbranched polyglycerol (HPG) with potentials biomedical applications. Nipa was used to give thermosensitive properties to the NGs and HPG was incorporate in order to enhance the water solubility and biocompatibility of the NGs as well as to tune the thermoresponsive profile as a function of the NG size in the solution

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