Water absorption and swelling via hydrogen bonding with water molecules

Water absorption and swelling via hydrogen bonding with water molecules is not an individual molecular target such as a receptor, enzyme, transporter, or gene. Instead, it describes the physical process by which certain polymers or composite materials absorb water from their environment, leading to an increase in volume (swelling). This phenomenon is primarily driven by the formation of hydrogen bonds between hydrophilic groups on the polymer chains and surrounding water molecules. The process is central to the behavior of hydrogels and many natural/synthetic polymers used in biomedical applications. In these systems: - Hydrogels are networks of hydrophilic polymers that can absorb large amounts of water through hydrogen bonding[2][4]. - The absorbed water causes the polymer network to swell until equilibrium is reached between osmotic forces drawing in more water and elastic forces resisting expansion[3]. This property is crucial for applications such as wound dressings (where rapid fluid uptake is needed), drug delivery systems (where controlled release depends on swelling), tissue engineering scaffolds, superabsorbent products like diapers, and dental restorative materials where dimensional stability matters[4][5]. However, this entry does not refer to any specific protein/receptor/therapeutic target, but rather describes a general material science phenomenon. Therefore, it should not be considered as a canonical therapeutic target. If you need information about specific proteins involved in cellular osmoregulation or aquaporins that mediate biological water transport across membranes, those would be valid molecular targets. But "water absorption/swelling via hydrogen bonding" itself refers only to physical chemistry/materials science properties—not an actionable drug discovery target.

Other names

Water swellingHydrogel swellingPolymer water absorptionSwelling via hydrogen bonding