(331b) Programmable, Chemically Mediated Control of Hydrogel Patterning and Chemomechanical Response

Hydrogels are networks of chemically crosslinked polymers containing
water as the dispersion medium. The ability to spatially pattern
hydrogels with chemical groups or biomolecules and to control
their response to stimuli enables their application in areas including
chemical separation, controlled release, tissue engineering and the
development of therapeutics.

I will describe our group's efforts to develop methods to use
biomolecular stimuli such has nucleic acid sequences to direct the
formation of heterogeneous patterns of chemical functionality and
mechanical stiffness. In each of these methods, designed chemical
reaction networks interpret environmental stimuli and induce a
response that can be either the instigation of a reaction diffusion
process that can produce a stable final pattern of concentrations with
a designed, potentially complex shape, shape change or a change in a
material's mechanical properties. These methods could allow hydrogels
to respond in complex ways to a combinatorial variety of different
signals or to respond to biomolecular signals autonomously, making
them of potential interest for in vivo applications.