Injectable dopamine‐modified poly(α,β‐aspartic acid) nanocomposite hydrogel as bioadhesive drug delivery system

Hydrogel systems based on cross‐linked polymeric materials with adhesive properties in wet environments have been considered as promising candidates for tissue adhesives. The 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) is believed to be responsible for the water‐resistant adhesive characteristics of mussel adhesive proteins. Under the inspiration of DOPA containing adhesive proteins, a dopamine‐modified poly(α,β‐aspartic acid) derivative (PDAEA) was successfully synthesized by successive ring‐opening reactions of polysuccinimide (PSI) with dopamine and ethanolamine, and an injectable bioadhesive hydrogel was prepared via simply mixing PDAEA and FeCl3 solutions. The formation mechanism of the hydrogel was investigated by ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐vis) spectroscopic, Fourier transformation infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopic, visual colorimetric measurements and EDTA immersion methods. The study demonstrated that the PDAEA‐Fe3+ hydrogel is a dual cross‐linking system composed of covalent and coordination crosslinks. The PDAEA‐Fe3+ hydrogel is suitable to serve as a bioadhesive agent according to the rheological behaviors and the observed significant shear adhesive strength. The slow and sustained release of the model drug curcumin from the hydrogel in vitro demonstrated the hydrogel could also be potentially used for drug delivery. Moreover, the cytotoxicity tests in vitro suggested the prepared polymer and hydrogel possessed excellent cytocompatibility. All the results indicated that the dopamine modified poly(α,β‐aspartic acid) derivative based hydrogel was a promising candidate for bioadhesive drug delivery system. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 1000–1008, 2017.