Facile Fabrication of a Modular Catch and Release Hydrogel Interface: Harnessing Thiol-Disulfide Exchange for Reversible Protein Capture and Cell Attachment

Surfaces engineered to specifically capture and release on demand analytes ranging from biomolecules to cells find niche applications in areas such as diagnostics and detection. Utilization of a disulfide-based linker as a building block allows fabrication of a novel hydrogel-based platform that incorporates a catch and release attribute. Hydrogels incorporating pyridyl disulfide groups as thiol-reactive handles were prepared by photopolymerization in the presence of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based cross-linker. A range of bulk and micropatterned hydrogels with varying amounts of the reactive group were prepared using PEG -based monomers with different chain lengths. Thiol-containing molecules were conjugated to these hydrogels through the thiol disulfide exchange reaction under ambient conditions with high efficiencies, as determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. Facile conjugation of a thiol-containing fluorescent dye, namely 4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethy1-8-[(10-mercapto)]-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene, was demonstrated, followed by its effective cleavage in the presence of dithiothreitol (DTT), a thiol-containing disulfide-reducing agent. Conjugation of a biotin-containing ligand onto the hydrogels allowed specific binding of protein extravidin when exposed to a mixture of extravidin and bovine serum albumin. The bound protein could be released from the hydrogel by simple exposure to a DTT solution. Likewise, hydrogels modified with a cell-adhesive peptide unit containing the RGD sequence acted as favorable substrates for cellular attachment. Incubation of these cell-attached hydrogel surfaces in a DTT-containing solution leads to facile detachment of cells from the surfaces, while retaining a high level of cell viability. It can be envisioned that the benign nature of these hydrogels, their facile fabrication, and modular functionalization will make them attractive platforms for many applications.