Supramolecular Soft Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications - In-Situ Gelling Polymers: For Biomedical Applications - page 107

Fig. 1 a Structure of dipeptide 1 and hexane solution of green-light emitting CdSe/ZnS QDs
with TOPO as surface ligands before ( b ) and after ( c ) application of ultrasound. a - c Reproduced
with permission from Ref. [ 12 ]
Fig. 2 Scheme of
enzyme-switch-regulated
supramolecular hydrogel
reproduced with permission
from Ref. [ 16 ]
the attenuation of hematoma and the possibility of providing a therapeutic effect
in a spinal cord injury model [ 17 ]. Peptide hydrogels have also been used for the
encapsulation of neural cells for up to 5 months, showing good viability [ 18 ].
In a similar way, some polymers can form a supramolecular hydrogel through
H-bonding. Light as a gelation trigger is favoured due to the ease of control and
convenience of usage. Peng and colleagues created a hydrogel by mixing dextran
functionalized with acrylate-modified o-nitrobenzyl moieties (Dex-AN) and dithi-
olated poly(ethylene glycol) (DSPEG) via a Michael addition between the acrylate