MIT Develops Self-Healing Na**gels for Drug Delivery
 

MIT Develops Self-Healing Na**gels for Drug Delivery
[IMG]http://www.medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Na**gels.jpg[/IMG]
Researchers at MIT have created a na**gel that can be squeezed through a needle and still retain its form once inside*the body. These na**gels are **t only resilient to shear stress and other mechanical deformations, but they are also self-healing. The material is made by mixing na**particles called PEG-PLA with a**ther polymer, in this case, cellulose. The polymer chains form weak bonds with the na**particles and thus generate a matrix of loosely woven na**gels. When the na**gel is put*under extreme shear stress such as being injected through a needle, the bonds between the polymer and na**particles break, but when conditions return to **rmal, the matrix*reforms its bonds and heals itself.

What is great about this new development is that by using two different materials in one na**gel, scientists will be able to deliver one or two different ***** in one go. PEG-PLA na**particles have*an inner core that makes them*suitable for carrying hydrophobic molecules, whereas the other polymer is hydrophilic and can carry small molecules such as proteins, antibodies, and growth factors.

The team has already shown that the na**gel can be used as a platform for drug delivery*in vivo.*The group is **w looking to use the gel to deliver anti-angiogenesis ***** and to program them to deliver the ***** over a longer period of time to reduce the amount of necessary injections. They also hope to use this gel to kill residual cancer cells after surgeries by having one drug lure the cancer cells towards the na**gel and the second drug be a chemotherapy agent.

Study in*Nature Communications: Self-assembled hydrogels utilizing polymer-na**particle interactions…

MIT press release: New Na**gel for Drug Delievey…

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