FRAP analysis of peptide diffusion in extracellular matrix mimetic hydrogels as an in vitro model for subcutaneous injection.

Subcutaneous (SC) injection is a common route of administration for drug compounds with poor oral bioavailability. However, bioavailability is often variable and incomplete, and there is as yet no standard accepted medium for simulation of the human SC environment. In this work we evaluate a FRAP based method for quantitative determination of local self-diffusion coefficients within extracellular matrix (ECM) mimetic hydrogels, potentially useful as in vitro models for drug transport in the ECM after SC injection.