Dry eye is a common ocular disease that results in discomfort and impaired vision, impacting an individual's quality of life. A great number of drugs administered in eye drops to treat dry eye are poorly soluble in water and are rapidly eliminated from the ocular surface, which limits their therapeutic effects. Therefore, it is imperative to design a novel drug delivery system that not only improves the water solubility of the drug but also prolongs its retention time on the ocular surface. Herein, we develop a copolymer from mono-functional POSS, PEG, and PPG (MPOSS-PEG-PPG, MPEP) that exhibits temperature-sensitive sol-gel transition behavior. This thermo-responsive hydrogel improves the water solubility of FK506 and simultaneously provides a mucoadhesive, long-acting ocular delivery system. In addition, the FK506-loaded POSS hydrogel possesses good biocompatibility and significantly improves adhesion to the ocular surface. In comparison with other FK506 formulations and the PEG-PPG-FK506 (F127-FK506) hydrogel, this novel MPOSS-PEG-PPG-FK506 (MPEP-FK506) hydrogel is a more effective treatment of dry eye in the murine dry eye model. Therefore, delivery of FK506 in this POSS hydrogel has the potential to prolong drug retention time on the ocular surface, which will improve its therapeutic efficacy in the management of dry eye.

干眼症是一种常见的眼部疾病，会导致不适和视力受损，影响个人的生活质量。用于治疗干眼症的滴眼剂中的大量药物难溶于水，并且会迅速从眼表消除，这限制了它们的治疗效果。因此，设计一种新型药物递送系统势在必行，该系统不仅能提高药物的水溶性，还能延长其在眼表的保留时间。在此，我们开发了一种由单官能 POSS、PEG 和 PPG (MPOSS-PEG-PPG、MPEP) 组成的共聚物，该共聚物表现出温度敏感的溶胶-凝胶转变行为。这种热响应水凝胶提高了 FK506 的水溶性，同时提供粘膜粘附、长效眼部递送系统。此外，负载FK506的POSS水凝胶具有良好的生物相容性，并显着提高了对眼表的粘附力。与其他 FK506 制剂和 PEG-PPG-FK506 (F127-FK506) 水凝胶相比，这种新型 MPOSS-PEG-PPG-FK506 (MPEP-FK506) 水凝胶在小鼠干眼模型中可以更有效地治疗干眼。因此，在这种 POSS 水凝胶中递送 FK506 有可能延长药物在眼表的保留时间，从而提高其治疗干眼症的疗效。