Reversible Protein Capture and Release by Redox-Responsive Hydrogel in Microfluidics

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels have a wide range of potential applications in microflu-idics, which has drawn great attention. Double cross-linked hydrogels are very well suited for this application as they offer both stability and the required responsive behavior. Here, we re-port the integration of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAAm) hydrogel with a permanent cross-linker (N,N -methylenebisacrylamide, BIS) and a redox responsive reversible cross-linker (N,N -bis(acryloyl)cystamine, BAC) into a microfluidic device through photopolymerization. Cleavage and re-formation of disulfide bonds introduced by BAC changed the cross-linking densities of the hydro-gel dots, making them swell or shrink. Rheological measurements allowed for selecting hydrogels that withstand long-term shear forces present in microfluidic devices under continuous flow. Once implemented, the thiol-disulfide exchange allowed the hydrogel dots to successfully capture and release the protein bovine serum albumin (BSA). BSA was labeled with rhodamine B and functionalized with 2-(2-pyridyldithio)-ethylamine (PDA) to introduce disulfide bonds. The reversible capture and release of the protein reached an efficiency of 83.6% in release rate and could be repeated over 3 cycles within the microfluidic device. These results demonstrate that our redox-responsive hydrogel dots enable the dynamic capture and release of various different functionalized (macro)molecules (e.g., proteins and drugs) and have a great potential to be integrated into a lab-on-a-chip device for detection and/or delivery.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number267
Number of pages16
JournalPolymer
Volume14
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jan 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85122767062
PubMed 35054674
Mendeley bb421c81-7e86-3844-9b09-1c24e7ecd531
ORCID /0000-0002-8588-9755/work/142246702
ORCID /0000-0002-4531-691X/work/148607590

Keywords

Keywords

  • Disulfide bonds, Hydrogels, Mechanical properties, Microfluidics, Protein capture and release, Redox-responsive, Swelling behaviors