Polyacylurethanes as Novel Degradable Cell Carrier Materials for Tissue Engineering

Danijela Jovanovic, Frans V. Roukes, Andrea Loeber, Gerwin E. Engels, Willem van Oeveren, Xavier J. Gallego van Seijen, Marja J. A. van Luyn, Martin C. Harmsen, Arend Jan Schouten*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    7 Citations (Scopus)
    325 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Polycaprolactone (PCL) polyester and segmented aliphatic polyester urethanes based on PCL soft segment have been thoroughly investigated as biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering. Although proven beneficial as long term implants, these materials degrade very slowly and are therefore not suitable in applications in which scaffold support is needed for a shorter time. A recently developed class of polyacylurethanes (PAUs) is expected to fulfill such requirements. Our aim was to assess in vitro the degradation of PAUs and evaluate their suitability as temporary scaffold materials to support soft tissue repair. With both a mass loss of 2.5-3.0% and a decrease in molar mass of approx. 35% over a period of 80 days, PAUs were shown to degrade via both bulk and surface erosion mechanisms. Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy was successfully applied to study the extent of PAUs microphase separation during in vitro degradation. The microphase separated morphology of PAU1000 (molar mass of the oligocaprolactone soft segment = 1000 g/mol) provided this polymer with mechano-physical characteristics that would render it a suitable material for constructs and devices. PAU1000 exhibited excellent haemocompatibility in vitro. In addition, PAU1000 supported both adhesion and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and this could be further enhanced by pre-coating of PAU1000 with fibronectin (Fn). The contact angle of PAU1000 decreased both with in vitro degradation and by incubation in biological fluids. In endothelial cell culture medium the contact angle reached 60 degrees, which is optimal for cell adhesion. Taken together, these results support the application of PAU1000 in the field of soft tissue repair as a temporary degradable scaffold.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1705-1727
    Number of pages23
    JournalMaterials
    Volume4
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct-2011

    Keywords

    • biodegradable polymers
    • tissue engineering
    • biomedical polyurethanes
    • hydrolytic degradation
    • acylurethanes
    • blood compatibility
    • endothelial cells
    • IN-VIVO
    • HYDROLYTIC DEGRADATION
    • BLOOD COMPATIBILITY
    • POLYURETHANES
    • POLYMER
    • POLY(EPSILON-CAPROLACTONE)
    • POLY(N-ACYLURETHANE)S
    • BIOMATERIALS
    • WETTABILITY
    • ADHESION

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