Bio-polymer and scaffold-sheet method for tissue engineering

摘要

A method of making a new type of biomaterials, biodegrable crosslinked urethane-containing polyester (CUPE) elastomers and a scaffold-sheet engineering method for tissue engineering applications is provided. CUPEs can be synthesized by forming a linear pre-polymer, which is a polyester, introducing the urethane bonds into polyester using a diisocyanate as a linker, and crosslinking the resulting urethane containing linear polymers to form CUPEs via post-polymerization. This family of polymers, CUPEs, exhibit excellent biocompatibility with desired degradation. Tissue engineering scaffolds made of CUPEs are soft and elastic, and have good mechanical strength. Complex tissue grafts can be constructed by a novel layer-by-layer (LBL) scaffold-sheet engineering design using CUPE sheets. CUPE scaffolds can provide openings for cell to cell communication across scaffold layers and angiogenesis into the depth of the construct. Biomolecules, such as anticoagulants, can be incorporated into the CUPE polymers, increasing their viability as vascular graft scaffolds.