Bioactive and photoactive PEI hydrogels as platforms for biomolecule immobilization

The objective of this research was to design a versatile hydrogel material for binding and release of plasmid DNA in a controlled manner. Because of their structural and mechanical properties, as well as the large flexibility in the functionalization of the polymer groups, hydrogels based on macromolecules are extensively applied in biomedical research, in particular for tissue engineering and drug delivery. Polyethylenimine (PEI) is a cationic polyelectrolyte that contains a large number of secondary and tertiary amines, and has been predominantly used as a non-viral gene carrier due to its ability to form stable complexes with nucleic acids in solutions. Here we investigate a pH-sensitive hydrogel based on PEI where plasmid DNA can bind in a reversible way.