Designing Polymers for the Activation of, and Selective Resorption by, Osteoclasts for Bone Regeneration

摘要

We have designed polymers derived from tyrosine that can support the attachment of macrophages and their fusion into mature osteoclasts that resemble those found on native bone surfaces. Preliminary results show that our polymers better support the beginning of osteoclast resorption than PLA, another polymer commonly used for bone regeneration. A polymer that is selectively degradable by osteoclasts can be tuned to resorb as native bone does during physiological bone turnover.