Scaffolds for tissue engineering function as an artificial extracellular matrix and play a vital role in cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation and new tissue formation. Polymeric materials like poly(lactide) (PLA) and other polyesters have been widely used due to their favorable properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, low immunogenicity and good mechanical properties. However, the main disadvantage lies in the inherent hydrophobicity, which affects important factors such as circulation time in the body, cell adhesion and proliferation rates.We thus report the development, synthesis and characterization of PLA-based amphiphilic block copolymers for the preparation of biodegradable and biofunctionalized polymer scaffolds with improved hydrophilicity and biocompatibility. The use of a unique hydroxyl-functionalized trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent allows for subsequent synthesis of these block copolymers via combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. In this way, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactide) (PEG-b-PLA), poly(lactide)-block-poly(polyethylene glycol ethyl ether methacrylate) (PLA-b-PPEGEEMA), and poly(lactide)-block-poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide) PLA-b-PHPMA were prepared and characterized. Furthermore, the incorporation of poly(N-methacryloxysuccinimide) (PmNAOS) via copolymerization of mNAOS with either PEGEEMA or HPMA allows for biofunctionalization of the block copolymers with bioactive agents like RGD peptide or growth factors like rh-BMP-2. Lastly, electrospinning and thermal phase separation techniques were employed to transform these novel amphiphilic block copolymers into core-shell type fiber scaffolds with potential applications in bone tissue engineering.   ?

Poly(lactide)-based block copolymers as biofunctional scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications

248th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.