Hydrogels are hydrophilic, three-dimensional materials used as platforms for various biomedical applications such as drug delivery, biosensors, and scaffolds in tissue engineering. The ability to degrade on demand in response to biological cues is particularly attractive when dealing with microgels or if one aims to release an active ingredient from a scaffolding material. For instance, many cancer-remediation drug delivery platforms leverage the high concentration of glutathione, a thiol-containing tripeptide, found in cancerous cells. In this work, poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate hydrogels were fabricated using dithiomaleimide (DTM) moieties. DTMs are known to undergo thiol-exchange reactions favoring the dissolution of the hydrogel in the presence of thiols. The role of DTM concentration, and thereby crosslink density, on the mechanical properties of these hydrogels and the rate of dissolution in the presence of thiols, including glutathione, is presented. Fluorescence-based assays are used to demonstrate the unique luminescence properties of DTMs. The use of DTM as a crosslinker in multiresponsive hydrogels bears great promise for the creation of stimuli-addressable biomaterials.
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