The design criteria for injectable, in situ -gelling hydrogels are reviewed in conjunction with highlights on recent progress in the preparation of injectable PEG and PEG-analogue poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) (POEGMA) hydrogels.
Hydrogels based on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and derivatives have attracted significant interest in recent years given their capacity to be well-tolerated in vivo in the context of drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. Injectable, in situ -gelling analogues of such hydrogels offer the additional advantages of being easy and non-invasive to administer via the injection of low-viscosity precursor polymer solutions, expanding their scope of potential applications. In this highlight, we first review the design criteria associated with the rational design of in situ -gelling hydrogels for in vivo applications. We then discuss recent progress in the design of injectable PEG hydrogels, specifically highlighting our ongoing work on PEG-analogue hydrogels based on poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate) for targeted biomedical applications.