2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Medical application of biodegradable injectable polymers forming covalent hydrogel in response to temperature

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	16H01854
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering
Research Institution	Kansai University
Principal Investigator	Ohya Yuichi 関西大学, 化学生命工学部, 教授 (10213886)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	葛谷明紀関西大学, 化学生命工学部, 教授 (00456154) 高井真司大阪医科大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (80288703)
Project Period (FY)	2016-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Keywords	インジェクタブルポリマー / ゾルゲル転移 / 生分解性高分子 / 癒着防止 / 再生医療 / 脂肪由来幹細胞
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We investigated injectable polymer (IP) systems, which can form hydrogels in response to temperature after injection into the body, and their application as biomedical materials. Especially, we succeeded in preparing an IP system, which can form partially covalent cross-linking via thiol-ene reaction and show a longer duration of gel state in vivo and variable mechanical properties. We also succeeded in controlling the pH region where the IP shows temperature-responsive sol-gel transition provided by introducing functional groups at the termini of the IP molecules. We evaluated the application of the IP system as a drug delivery device showing the sustained release of drugs, post-operative antiadhesives, scaffold for tissue regeneration against ischemic heart using stem cells, and embolization materials in blood vessels. Then, positive results were obtained.
Free Research Field	バイオマテリアル
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	温度に応答して体内でゾルからゲルへと転移する生分解性ポリマーは，インジェクタブルポリマー(IP)として低侵襲な医療を実現する材料として重要であり，本研究は数ある類似研究の中でも，ゲル状態の維持期間やゲル化するｐH領域を簡便な方法で制御する方法を創出したことに高い独創性と学術的意義がある。また，開発したIPシステムは，これまで困難であった内視鏡（腹腔鏡）手術下での癒着防止材の使用を可能にし，幹細胞を利用した再生医療的治療に有効であることなどが実際にモデル動物実験系で立証され，臨床応用が可能な新規な治療法として社会的意義も高い。