PURPOSE To characterize thermoresponsive hydrogels (liquids at room temperature, gels at body temperature) as a novel drug delivery platform to the posterior segment. METHODS Thermoresponsive hydrogels were synthesized using poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), cross-linked with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA). Proteins were then encapsulated into the hydrogels, including bovine s...

Immunoassays have been translated into microfluidic device formats, but significant challenges relating to upstream sample processing still limit their applications. Here, stimuli-responsive polymer-antibody conjugates are utilized in a microfluidic immunoassay to enable rapid biomarker purification and enrichment as well as sensitive detection. The conjugates were constructed by covalently gra...

The morphology of interpenetrating polymeric networks (IPNs) composed of the temperature-sensitive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and the pH-sensitive poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The IPN hydrogels were prepared by a sequential UV polymerization method. SEM studies were conducted on IPN hydrogel samples dried by different methods...

In order to transport therapeutic agents across blood brain barrier (BBB) for sustained time in response to biological need, we designed and synthesized novel dendritic nanoparticles with thermoresponsive and biodegradable properties as drug delivery systems. The nano-sized dendrimer was prepared by coupling reaction of poly(L-lysine) (PLL) dendron and poly(Nisopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) graft...

In this research, we synthesized a novel DNA-polymer conjugate and evaluated its application to an affinity precipitation separation of TATA-box binding protein (TBP), which is a representative general transcription factor. The conjugate was composed of two fractions. One was a double-stranded DNA modified by the grafting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), which is known as a thermosensi...