Poly(ethylene glycol) as a sensitive regulator of cell survival fate on polymeric biomaterials: the interplay of cell adhesion and pro-oxidant signaling mechanisms

Combinatorial polymer matrices enhance in vitro maturation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

“…[58] A copolymerization technique[11] was used for synthesizing copolymers of different mole percentages of three components known to alter the physicochemical properties which can affect cardiac maturation: PCL was used as the primary component due to its biocompatibility, hydrophophilicity, and slow degradation rate[12]; PEG was used to promote hydrophilicity and water adsorption and to repel proteins and cells[1, 13]; and cPCL was used for increased hydrophilicity and to expose a negative surface charge that was found to reduce the repellent effect of PEG. [14] Since each of these three subunits exhibits distinct material properties, the resulting copolymer can be tailored to modulate cellular responses (Fig. 1a) when copolymerized at different molar ratios.…”

“…[11] The copolymer library contained different mole percentages of three components: hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), hydrophobic poly(ε-caprolacton) (PCL), and negatively-charged carboxylated-PCL (cPCL). Each copolymer subunit was selected for the specific properties it contributed to the resulting copolymer: PCL is a semi-crystalline, biodegradable, and hydrophobic, as well as being FDA-approved in medical devices[12]; PEG is a biocompatible, hydrophilic, and repellent polymer that reduces protein adsorption and cell attachment through steric exclusion[13, 14]; and cPCL facilitates cell attachment to the scaffold surface by providing a negative charge, effectively counteracting the PEG’s repellant effects. [14] These combinatorial polymers were electrospun to make fiber mesh scaffolds that mimic ECM fiber structure and orientation, and subsequently used as test culture substrates.…”

Pro-angiogenic and Anti-inflammatory Regulation by Functional Peptides Loaded in Polymeric Implants for Soft Tissue Regeneration

“…The tunable polymer scaffolds used in this study proved to be a useful platform for investigating soft tissues for several reasons: (1) scaffold mechanical properties were within the range of soft tissues that contact blood (*0.1 MPa), such as the vasculature and heart muscle, 50,51 (2) the level of protein adsorption to the scaffold facilitated cell attachment without causing over-accumulation of proteins, 31 and (3) pore interconnectivity promoted cell growth and migration into the scaffold, while maintaining efficient oxygen and nutrient transport. [60][61][62][63] The successful incorporation of bioactive peptides into the scaffold, achieved via embedding in the collagen gel, provided a means for controlled peptide release.…”

“…Gold quartz crystals (QSX 301; QSense) were spin-coated with a mixture 1% weight/volume of backbone polymer and PEG dihydrazide (0%, 8% or 20%) in tetrahydrofuran as described previously. 31 Phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) was first flowed through each chamber to equilibrate, and fibrinogen (3 mg/mL; Sigma Aldrich) in PBS was then run at a flow rate of 24.2 mL/min for 2 h. Fibrinogen was chosen because this plasma protein is prevalent around an injury site. 32,33 A PBS rinse was performed for 1 h to remove any reversibly adsorbed proteins.…”

Optimization of electrospun fibrous membranes for in vitro modeling of blood-brain barrier

“…PCL is a semi-crystalline, biodegradable, FDA-approved, hydrophobic polymer [8]. PEG is a biocompatible, hydrophilic polymer that can repel protein and cells [9]. In our previous studies we showed that physicochemical, mechanical, and bioactive properties of electrospun fiber scaffolds can be tuned to promote cell growth and differentiation by combining these two components with different mole percentages [10,11].…”