Jo, SeongHoon Roh, Soonjong Shim, Jaemin Yu, Ji Woong Jung, Youngmee Jang, Woo Young Seo, Bumjoon Won, You-Yeon Yoo, Jin 2024-08-01T05:00:19Z 2024-08-01T05:00:19Z 2024-08-01 2024-08 1525-7797 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/150324 Hydrogels are promising materials for biomedical applications, particularly in drug delivery and tissue engineering. This study highlights thermoresponsive hydrogels, specifically poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-PLGA triblock copolymers, and introduces a feed rate-controlled polymerization (FRCP) method. By utilizing an organic catalyst and regulating the monomer feed rate, the sequence distribution of PLGA within the triblock copolymer is controlled. Various analyses, including 13C NMR and rheological measurements, were conducted to investigate the impact of sequence distribution. Results show that altering sequence distribution significantly influences the sol-gel transition, hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity balance, and drug release profile. Increased sequence uniformity lowers the glass transition temperature, raises the sol-gel transition temperature due to enhanced hydrophilicity, and promotes a more uniform drug (curcumin) distribution within the PLGA domain, resulting in a slower release rate. This study emphasizes the importance of PLGA sequence distribution in biomedical applications and the potential of FRCP to tailor thermoresponsive hydrogels for biomedical advancements. English American Chemical Society Modulating the Thermoresponsive Characteristics of PLGA-PEG-PLGA Hydrogels via Manipulation of PLGA Monomer Sequences Article 10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00817 1 Biomacromolecules, v.25, no.8, pp.5374 - 5386 Biomacromolecules 25 8 5374 5386 N scie scopus 001272004400001 2-s2.0-85198755154 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Chemistry, Organic Polymer Science Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Chemistry Polymer Science Article THERMOREVERSIBLE GELATION TRIBLOCK COPOLYMERS L-LACTIDE BLOCK POLYMERIZATION HYDROLYSIS PACLITAXEL GLYCOLIDE DRUG-RELEASE POLY(LACTIC-CO-GLYCOLIC ACID)