Poly(glycerol sebacate)\Poly(butylene succinate-dilinoleate) Blends as Candidate Materials for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(glycerol sebacate)

This study demonstrated that immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (N435) catalysis in bulk leads to higher molecular weight poly(glycerol sebacate), PGS, than self-catalyzed condensation polymerization. Since the glass-transition temperature, fragility, modulus, and strength for rubbery networks are inversely dependent on the concentration of chain ends, higher molecular weight PGS prepolymers will enable the preparation of cross-linked PGS matrices with unique mechanical properties. The evolution of molecular species during the prepolymerization step conducted at 120 °C for 24 h, prior to enzyme addition, revealed regular decreases in sebacic acid and glycerol-sebacate dimer with corresponding increases in oligomers with chain lengths from 3 to 7 units such that a homogeneous liquid substrate has resulted. At 67 h, for N435-catalyzed PGS synthesis, the carboxylic acid conversion reached 82% without formation of a gel fraction, and number-average molecular weight (M_n) and weight-average molecular weight (M_w) values reached 6000 and 59 400 g/mol, respectively. In contrast, self-catalyzed PGS condensation polymerizations required termination at 55 h to avoid gelation, reached 72% conversion, and M_n and M_w values of 2600 and 13 800 g/mol, respectively. We also report the extent that solvent fractionation can enrich PGS in higher molecular weight chains. The use of methanol as a nonsolvent increased M_n and M_w by 131.7 and 18.3%, respectively, and narrower dispersity (Đ) decreased by 47.7% relative to the nonfractionated product.

A Review on Properties and Application of Bio-Based Poly(Butylene Succinate)

Researchers and companies have increasingly been drawn to biodegradable polymers and composites because of their environmental resilience, eco-friendliness, and suitability for a range of applications. For various uses, biodegradable fabrics use biodegradable polymers or natural fibers as reinforcement. Many approaches have been taken to achieve better compatibility for tailored and improved material properties. In this article, PBS (polybutylene succinate) was chosen as the main topic due to its excellent properties and intensive interest among industrial and researchers. PBS is an environmentally safe biopolymer that has some special properties, such as good clarity and processability, a shiny look, and flexibility, but it also has some drawbacks, such as brittleness. PBS-based natural fiber composites are completely biodegradable and have strong physical properties. Several research studies on PBS-based composites have been published, including physical, mechanical, and thermal assessments of the properties and its ability to replace petroleum-based materials, but no systematic analysis of up-to-date research evidence is currently available in the literature. The aim of this analysis is to highlight recent developments in PBS research and production, as well as its natural fiber composites. The current research efforts focus on the synthesis, copolymers and biodegradability for its properties, trends, challenges and prospects in the field of PBS and its composites also reviewed in this paper.

Polyglycerol Hyperbranched Polyesters: Synthesis, Properties and Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Applications

In a century when environmental pollution is a major issue, polymers issued from bio-based monomers have gained important interest, as they are expected to be environment-friendly, and biocompatible, with non-toxic degradation products. In parallel, hyperbranched polymers have emerged as an easily accessible alternative to dendrimers with numerous potential applications. Glycerol (Gly) is a natural, low-cost, trifunctional monomer, with a production expected to grow significantly, and thus an excellent candidate for the synthesis of hyperbranched polyesters for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. In the present article, we review the synthesis, properties, and applications of glycerol polyesters of aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (from succinic to sebacic acids) as well as the copolymers of glycerol or hyperbranched polyglycerol with poly(lactic acid) and poly(ε-caprolactone). Emphasis was given to summarize the synthetic procedures (monomer molar ratio, used catalysts, temperatures, etc.,) and their effect on the molecular weight, solubility, and thermal and mechanical properties of the prepared hyperbranched polymers. Their applications in pharmaceutical technology as drug carries and in biomedical applications focusing on regenerative medicine are highlighted.

Influence of the nanofiber chemistry and orientation of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate)-based scaffolds on osteoblast differentiation for bone tissue regeneration

Innovative nanofibrous scaffolds have attracted considerable attention in bone tissue engineering, due to their ability to mimic the hierarchical architecture of an extracellular matrix. Aiming at investigating how the polymer chemistry and fiber orientation of electrospun scaffolds (ES) based on poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and poly(butylene succinate/diglycolate) (P(BS80BDG20)) affect human osteoblast differentiation, uniaxially aligned (a-) and randomly (r-) distributed nanofibers were produced. Although human osteoblastic SAOS-2 cells were shown to be viable and adherent onto all ES materials, a-P(BS80BDG20) exhibited the best performance both in terms of cellular phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase expression and in terms of alkaline phosphatase activity, calcified bone matrix deposition and quantitative gene expression of bone specific markers during differentiation. It has been hypothesized that the presence of ether linkages may lead to an increased density of hydrogen bond acceptors along the P(BS80BDG20) backbone, which, by interacting with cell membrane components, can in turn promote a better cell attachment on the copolymer mats with respect to the PBS homopolymer. Furthermore, although displaying the same chemical structure, r-P(BS80BDG20) scaffolds showed a reduced cell attachment and osteogenic differentiation in comparison with a-P(BS80BDG20), evidencing the importance of nanofiber alignment. Thus, the coupled action of polymer chemical structure and nanofiber alignment played a significant role in promoting the biological interaction.

Elastomeric and pH-responsive hydrogels based on direct crosslinking of the poly(glycerol sebacate) pre-polymer and gelatin

The synthesis and biomedical applications of novel elastomeric, pH-responsive, biocompatible and biodegradable copolymer hydrogels based on poly(glycerol sebacate) and gelatin.

Poly(glycerol sebacate)/poly(butylene succinate-butylene dilinoleate) fibrous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering

The present article investigates the use of a novel electrospun fibrous blend of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and poly(butylene succinate-butylene dilinoleate) (PBS-DLA) as a candidate for cardiac tissue engineering. Random electrospun fibers with various PGS/PBS-DLA compositions (70/30, 60/40, 50/50, and 0/100) were fabricated. To examine the suitability of these fiber blends for heart patches, their morphology, as well as their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties were measured before examining their biocompatibility through cell adhesion. The fabricated fibers were bead-free and exhibited a relatively narrow diameter distribution. The addition of PBS-DLA to PGS resulted in an increase of the average fiber diameter, whereas increasing the amount of PBS-DLA decreased the hydrophilicity and the water uptake of the nanofibrous scaffolds to values that approached those of neat PBS-DLA nanofibers. Moreover, the addition of PBS-DLA significantly increased the elastic modulus. Initial toxicity studies with C2C12 myoblast cells up to 72 h confirmed nontoxic behavior of the blends. Immunofluorescence analyses and scanning electron microscopy analyses confirmed that C2C12 cells showed better cell attachment and proliferation on electrospun mats with higher PBS-DLA content. However, immunofluorescence analyses of the 3-day-old rat cardiomyocytes cultured for 2 and 5 days demonstrated better attachment on the 70/30 fibers containing well-aligned sarcomeres and expressing high amounts of connexin 43 in cellular junctions indicating efficient cell-to-cell communication. It can be concluded, therefore, that fibrous PGS/PBS-DLA scaffolds exhibit promising characteristics as a biomaterial for cardiac patch applications.