Polymeric tissue engineering scaffolds have shown promise to aid in regeneration and repair of damaged tissue. In particular, nonfouling polymers have been proposed for eliminating biomaterial-induced concerns such as infection, scarring, and rejection by the immune system. Polyampholyte polymers are one class of nonfouling polymers that are composed of an equimolar mixture of positively and negatively charged monomer subunits. They possess nonfouling properties, bioactive molecule conjugation capabilities, and tunable mechanical properties. In this study, the influence of the cross-linker species on the degradation behavior, mechanical strength, and nonfouling properties of polyampholytes composed of a 1:1 molar ratio of [2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (positively charged) and 2-carboxyethyl acrylate (negatively charged) monomers was investigated. Specifically, the impact of ethylene glycol repeat units on the overall material performance was evaluated by synthesizing and characterizing hydrogels containing di-, tri-, and tetra-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate cross-linker species. The degradation studies were conducted for over 100 days in Sorenson's buffer with pH values of 4.5, 7.4, and 9.0 by tracking the swelling behavior and weight change over time. The mechanical properties were assessed using compression and tensile testing to failure. The retention of the nonfouling and protein conjugation capabilities was demonstrated using fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumin. The results demonstrate the tunability of both degradation behavior and mechanical properties through the cross-linker selection, without impacting the underlying nonfouling and biomolecule delivery capabilities. Therefore, it is concluded that polyampholyte hydrogels represent a promising platform for tissue engineering.

中文翻译：

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交联剂链长对聚两性电解质水凝胶物理性能的影响。

聚合物组织工程支架已显示出有望帮助受损组织再生和修复的希望。特别地，已经提出了不结垢的聚合物以消除生物材料引起的担忧，例如感染，结疤和免疫系统排斥。聚两性电解质聚合物是一类无污聚合物，由带正电和带负电的单体亚基的等摩尔混合物组成。它们具有防污性能，生物活性分子结合能力和可调节的机械性能。在这项研究中，交联剂种类对由1组成的多两性电解质的降解行为，机械强度和防污性能的影响。研究了[2-（丙烯酰氧基）乙基]三甲基氯化铵（带正电荷）和丙烯酸2-羧乙基酯（带负电荷）单体的1摩尔比。具体地，通过合成和表征包含二，三和四乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯交联剂物质的水凝胶，来评估乙二醇重复单元对整体材料性能的影响。通过追踪溶胀行为和重量随时间的变化，在pH值为4.5、7.4和9.0的Sorenson缓冲液中进行了100天以上的降解研究。使用压缩和拉伸测试评估机械性能，直至断裂。使用荧光标记的牛血清白蛋白证明了不结垢和蛋白质结合能力的保留。结果表明，通过交联剂的选择，降解行为和机械性能均具有可调性，而不会影响潜在的防污和生物分子输送能力。因此，可以得出结论，两性电解质水凝胶代表了组织工程的有希望的平台。