Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38732733›Full record

ArticlePolymers2024

A Spontaneous In Situ Thiol-Ene Crosslinking Hydrogel with Thermo-Responsive Mechanical Properties.

Andreas Aerts, Maxim Vovchenko, Seyed Ali Elahi, Rocío Castro Viñuelas, Tess De Maeseneer, Martin Purino, Richard Hoogenboom, Hans Van Oosterwyck, Ilse Jonkers, Ruth Cardinaels and 1 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Polymers, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Thiolated Polymers in 3D Bioprinting: Control of Gelation.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026
    Review
  3. Advancing QuantitativeACS macro letters · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Andreas AertsLaboratory of Organic Material Synthesis, Polymer Chemistry and Materials, Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200f, P.O. Box 2404, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-4729-4507
Maxim VovchenkoBiomechanics Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300C, P.O. Box 2419, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-4493-1029
Seyed Ali ElahiBiomechanics Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300C, P.O. Box 2419, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-8125-3250
Rocío Castro ViñuelasHuman Movement Biomechanics Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven Tervuursevest 101, P.O. Box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-4881-273X
Tess De MaeseneerRheology and Technology, Soft Matter, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200J, P.O. Box 2424, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-7848-3514
Martin PurinoSupramolecular Chemistry Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, UGent, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Richard HoogenboomSupramolecular Chemistry Group, Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, UGent, Krijgslaan 281, Building S4, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-7398-2058
Hans Van OosterwyckBiomechanics Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 300C, P.O. Box 2419, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-2142-9717
Ilse JonkersHuman Movement Biomechanics Research Group, Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven Tervuursevest 101, P.O. Box 1501, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-7611-3747
Ruth CardinaelsRheology and Technology, Soft Matter, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200J, P.O. Box 2424, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-4191-6504
Mario SmetLaboratory of Organic Material Synthesis, Polymer Chemistry and Materials, Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200f, P.O. Box 2404, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.

Funding

KU Leuven IDN/20/019
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The thermo-responsive behavior of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) makes it an ideal candidate to easily embed cells and allows the polymer mixture to be injected. However, P(NiPAAm) hydrogels possess minor mechanical properties. To increase the mechanical properties, a covalent bond is introduced into the P(NIPAAm) network through a biocompatible thiol-ene click-reaction by mixing two polymer solutions. Co-polymers with variable thiol or acrylate groups to thermo-responsive co-monomer ratios, ranging from 1% to 10%, were synthesized. Precise control of the crosslink density allowed customization of the hydrogel's mechanical properties to match different tissue stiffness levels. Increasing the temperature of the hydrogel above its transition temperature of 31 °C induced the formation of additional physical interactions. These additional interactions both further increased the stiffness of the material and impacted its relaxation behavior. The developed optimized hydrogels reach stiffnesses more than ten times higher compared to the state of the art using similar polymers. Furthermore, when adding cells to the precursor polymer solutions, homogeneous thermo-responsive hydrogels with good cell viability were created upon mixing. In future work, the influence of the mechanical micro-environment on the cell's behavior can be studied in vitro in a continuous manner by changing the incubation temperature.

Indexed as

hydrogelMichael-type additionN-isopropylacrylamide

Identifiers

PMID38732733
PMCPMC11085619

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.