Fig. 4 Model drug (methylene blue) release from modified and unmodified nanogels. Model drug (methylene blue) release from modified and unmodified nanogels. (A) Methylene blue experienced complementary electrostatic interactions with unmodified nanogels at both pH 4.5 and 7.4, leading to sustained release in both conditions. (B) TMOD nanogels exhibited an initial burst release of methylene blue, where the quantity of that release was greater in acidic than neutral conditions. (C) DMOD nanogels exhibited a burst release of greater than 50% the loaded payload in each pH condition, with more rapid release in acidic than neutral conditions. (D) DMOD and TMOD nanogels exhibited similar methylene blue release behavior in acidic conditions, while unmodified gels exhibited a more sustained-release profile. (E) DMOD nanogels released methylene blue rapidly in 1× PBS (pH 7.4), while unmodified nanogels exhibited sustained-release and TMOD gels displayed intermediate behavior. The results in (D) and (E) indicated that the nanogels’ zeta potential is largely predictive for their release profile [all panels: n = 4, mean ± SD; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001, two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey posttest]. John R. Clegg et al. Sci Adv 2019;5:eaax7946 Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).