Nanostructure of hyaluronan acyl-derivatives in the solid state

0489374 - ÚMCH 2019 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Chmelař, J. - Bělský, P. - Mrázek, J. - Švadlák, D. - Hermannová, M. - Šlouf, Miroslav - Krakovský, I. - Šmejkalová, D. - Velebný, V.
Nanostructure of hyaluronan acyl-derivatives in the solid state.
Carbohydrate Polymers. Roč. 195, 1 September (2018), s. 468-475. ISSN 0144-8617. E-ISSN 1879-1344
R&D Projects: GA TA ČR(CZ) TE01020118
Institutional support: RVO:61389013
Keywords : hyaluronan * hydrophobization * nanostructure
OECD category: Polymer science
Impact factor: 6.044, year: 2018

Acyl derivatives of hyaluronan (acyl-HA) are promising materials for biomedical applications. Depending on the acyl length and the degree of substitution, these derivatives range from self-assembling water-soluble polymers to materials insoluble in aqueous environments. The behaviour of acyl-HA was studied in solution, but little attention was paid to the solid state, despite its importance for applications such as medical device fabrication. We thus used X-ray scattering and electron microscopy to explore the solid-state nano-structure of acyl-HA. The set of samples included various substituents, substitution degrees and molecular weights. The obtained data showed that all studied acyl-HA materials contained structures with dimensions on the order of nanometres that were not present in unmodified HA. The size of the nanostructures increased with the acyl length, while the degree of substitution and molecular weight had negligible effects. We suggest that the observed nanostructure corresponds to a distribution of hydrophobic domains in a hydrophilic matrix of unmodified HA segments.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0284020