| Abstract
| - Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an abundant nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan component of synovial fluid andthe extracellular matrix. HA is an important building block for biocompatible and biointeractivematerials with applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound repair, and viscosupplementation. Herein we describe the synthesis and characterization of HA-N-succinimide, an activated esterof the glucuronic acid moiety. This HA-active ester intermediate is a precursor for fluorescent probes,drug−polymer conjugates, and cross-linked hydrogels. As a demonstration, we used HA-NHS to prepareHA-BODIPY by coupling with the hydrazide derivative of the fluor. Intracellular uptake of HA-BODIPYinto human ovarian cancer cells, which overexpress cell-surface HA receptors, was visualized usingconfocal microscopy.
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