Synthesis and Characterization of Plug-and-Play Polyurethane Urea Elastomers as Biodegradable Matrixes for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

The highly tunable mechanical properties and resilience of polyurethanes make them promising candidates for tissue engineering applications. Biodegradability is conferred by incorporation of hydrolytically or enzymatically cleavable moieties into the polyurethane structure. A common choice for the biodegradable soft segment is a poly­(ether ester) triblock copolymer synthesized by ring opening polymerization of the polyester from a polyether macroinitiator. Herein, we describe a new “plug-and-play” approach for triblock synthesis based on urethane block coupling that enables finer control of block lengths and ease of segmental tuning. The inclusion of urethane linkages in the soft segment was also hypothesized to promote hydrogen bonding between the segments with an associated increase in modulus, tensile strength, and ultimate elongation. Hard segment content of the biodegradable polyurethane urea was varied to demonstrate the tunable tensile properties and degradation rate. As expected, increasing hard segment content led to large increases in initial secant modulus and tensile strength. A corollary decrease in ultimate elongation, elastic recovery, and degradation rate was also observed with increasing hard segment content. Finally, cytocompatibility and hydrolytic degradation of electrospun polyurethane meshes were evaluated to establish the potential use of these biodegradable matrixes as tissue engineering scaffolds. All of the polyurethane formulations displayed comparable cytocompatibilty to tissue culture plastic controls and hydrolytic chain scission of the polyester soft segment. Overall, this synthetic approach provides a platform to produce biodegradable polyurethane ureas with enhanced control over segmental chemistry, mechanical properties, and degradation rate.

A Prevascularized Polyurethane‐Reinforced Fibrin Patch Improves Regenerative Remodeling in a Rat Right Ventricle Replacement Model

“…BPUR was synthesized and electrospun into a thin membrane as previously described. [41] Briefly, a 10 wt% solution of BPUR in 1,1,1,3,3,3hexafluoro-2-propanol (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) was used to electrospin fibrous meshes (flow rate of 0.3 mL min −1 , +7.5 kV at the needle tip, −5 kV at the charged copper plate) under at ambient conditions (25 °C, 45-55% relative humidity). These meshes were evaluated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and characterized with scanning electron microscopy and tensile testing in previous studies.…”

“…These meshes were evaluated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and characterized with scanning electron microscopy and tensile testing in previous studies. [11,41] BPUR meshes were sterilized by UV in a culture hood for 1 h before use.…”

Polyurethane: A Versatile Scaffold for Biomedical Applications

“…For this instance, many works have been carried out to design a PUs scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Kishan et al [14] have designed a tri block poly (ether ester) urethane using "plug and play" approach and studied their cycto compatibility and hydrolytic degradation to establish their application in tissue engineering. It was observed that the "plug and play" approach, used for the synthesis of biodegradable PU, gives a platform for highly tunable material aimed at tissue engineering application.…”

Synthesis, characterization, crystallinity, mechanical properties, and shape memory behavior of polyurethane/hydroxyapatite nanocomposites

“…In the reconstruction of bone tissue, the proper selection of bio-material is an important step in designing and manufacturing biocompatible materials with desirable properties such as bioactivity and biodegradability (Dvir et al, 2011; Salgado et al, 2004). Among various polymers, shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) has attracted considerable attention in tissue engineering regarding its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and antimicrobial properties (Armentano et al, 2010; Kishan et al, 2017; Pandini et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2019). Over the course of the last years, several researches have been conducted on the development of SMPU nanocomposites and different nanofillers for various applications and improvement of mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties of SMPU (Babaie et al, 2019; Sultan, 2018).…”