Fully amino acid-based hydrogel as potential scaffold for cell culturing and drug delivery

• Dávid Juriga,
• Evelin Sipos,
• Orsolya Hegedűs,
• Gábor Varga,
• Miklós Zrínyi,
• Krisztina S. Nagy and
• Angéla Jedlovszky-Hajdú

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2579–2593, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.249

• and the biodegradability of the hydrogel. In this paper, PASP cross-linked with cystamine (CYS) and lysine-methylester (LYS) was introduced as fully amino acid-based polymer hydrogel. Gels were synthesized employing six different ratios of CYS and LYS. The pH dependent swelling degree and the

• reductive conditions resulted in an increased drug release due to the cleavage of disulfide bridges in the hydrogels. Consequently, these hydrogels provide new possibilities in the fields of both tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. Keywords: biocompatibility; cystamine; hydrogel; lysine; poly

• were also examined under various environmental conditions. Experimental Materials Following materials have been used in this study: ʟ-aspartic acid (CAS: 56-84-8, Aldrich, ≥98%), orthophosphoric acid (CAS: 7664-38-2, Aldrich, ≥99%), dimethylformamide (CAS: 68-12-2, VWR, ≥99.9%) cystamine

Characterisation of thin films of graphene–surfactant composites produced through a novel semi-automated method

• Nik J. Walch,
• Alexei Nabok,
• Frank Davis and
• Séamus P. J. Higson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 209–219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.19

• used to improve adhesion between the gold and the glass). Metal evaporation was carried out in a vacuum of 10−6 Torr using an Edwards 360 unit. Prior to LbL deposition, gold-coated slides were treated overnight in cystamine hydrochloride solution in order to make the gold surface positively charged