Hydrogels from Catechol-Conjugated Polymeric Materials

Abstract

Digging into in vivo phenomena is not always a vain task. Its merits will lighten sooner or later. Indeed, in the last two decades, Nature has unveiled to scientists the adhesiveness of proteins secreted within the mussel feet, to a large spectrum of substrata, and, unexpectedly, in aqueous environment. The secret behind this bio-adhesiveness lies on the synergetic adhesive action of 3, 4-dihydroxyphenyl-l-alanine (l-DOPA) and lysine, two amino acid residues in protein skeleton. Mimicking the mussel feet protein (mfp), a plethora of synthetic and natural polymers functionalized with catechol-containing molecules such as l-DOPA were considered as platforms for hydrogel making. Hydrogels tackled in this chapter include those based on poly(alkene oxide)s including poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and Pluronics (PEO/PPO/PEO), polyacrylics, alginate, chitosan, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, polypeptides, polyamides, polyesters, polyurethane, poly(vinyl alcohol), and polyallylamine. The applications thereof, in tune with the properties of polymer–catechol conjugates, are propitiously highlighted.