Enzyme-Mediated Ring-Opening Polymerization of Pentadecalactone to Obtain Biodegradable Polymer for Fabrication of Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

V A Korzhikov,E N Litvinchuk,E G Vlakh,T B Tennikova,K V Gusevskaya

doi:10.1155/2013/476748

Abstract

The optimization of enzyme-mediated polymerization of pentadecalactone (PDL) was performed to obtain macromolecular products suitable for generation of 3D cell supports (scaffolds) for bone tissue engineering. Such parameters as temperature, monomer/enzyme ratio, and monomer concentration were studied. The maximum molecular weight of synthesized polymers was about 90,000. Methods allowing the introduction of reactive double bonds into polypentadecalactone (polyPDL) structure were developed. The macroporous matrices were obtained by modification of thermoinduced phase separation method.

Highlights

The development of synthesis and application of biodegradable polymers represent great achievement due to ecological [1] and medical problems [2] associated with utilization of carbon-chained nondegradable polymers
In spite of the fact that Poly(hydroxy acid) enzyme-mediated ring-opening polymerization (EMROP) (PHA) can be obtained via polycondensation process, the polymers with fine and controllable properties are usually derived using ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactides or lactones of corresponding HAs [7]
Such type of polymerization is initiated and catalyzed by organometallic substances, like stannous octoate (Sn[Oct]2) [8, 9], zinc lactate (Zn[Lac]2) [10], and many others [7, 9, 11, 12]. These initiators allow obtaining the polymers with various molecular weights (MWs) and quite narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD)

Summary

Introduction

The development of synthesis and application of biodegradable polymers represent great achievement due to ecological [1] and medical problems [2] associated with utilization of carbon-chained nondegradable polymers. One of the most emerging classes of synthetic biodegradable polymers is aliphatic poly(hydroxy acids) (PHAs) [3] Their physical properties are close to most plastics [4], but possessing of ester bonds in the main chain allows polymer degradation via chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis [5]. In spite of the fact that PHAs can be obtained via polycondensation process, the polymers with fine and controllable properties are usually derived using ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactides or lactones of corresponding HAs [7] Such type of polymerization is initiated and catalyzed by organometallic substances, like stannous octoate (Sn[Oct]2) [8, 9], zinc lactate (Zn[Lac]2) [10], and many others [7, 9, 11, 12]. The main drawback of the mentioned method is that the resulting polymers contain metal ions that further become part of the polymer materials [1]

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Conclusion