Surface chemistry and size influence the release of model therapeutic nanoparticles from poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels

Nanoparticles have emerged as promising therapeutic and diagnostic tools, due to their unique physicochemical properties. The specific core and surface chemistries, as well as nanoparticle size, play critical roles in particle transport and interaction with biological tissue. Localized delivery of therapeutics from hydrogels is well established, but these systems generally release molecules with hydrodynamic radii less than ~5 nm. Here, model nanoparticles with biologically relevant surface chemistries and diameters between 10 and 35 nm are analyzed for their release from well-characterized hydrogels. Functionalized gold nanoparticles or quantum dots were encapsulated in three-dimensional poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels with varying mesh size. Nanoparticle size, surface chemistry, and hydrogel mesh size all influenced the release of particles from the hydrogel matrix. Size influenced nanoparticle release as expected, with larger particles releasing at a slower rate. However, citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles were not released from hydrogels. Negatively charged carboxyl or positively charged amine-functionalized quantum dots were released from hydrogels at slower rates than neutrally charged PEGylated nanoparticles of similar size. Transmission electron microscopy images of gold nanoparticles embedded within hydrogel sections demonstrated uniform particle distribution and negligible aggregation, independent of surface chemistry. The nanoparticle-hydrogel interactions observed in this work will aid in the development of localized nanoparticle delivery systems.