Issue 48, 2009

Heparin functionalisation of porous PLGA scaffolds for controlled, biologically relevant delivery of growth factors for soft tissue engineering

Abstract

Non-specific protein adsorption has a major confounding influence on the in vitro and in vivo performances of synthetic polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering. For control over cell phenotype to be realised, non-specific protein adsorption needs to be constrained and surfaces modified by immobilisation of specific cell attachment and bioactive molecules. Our aim was to develop biodegradable scaffolds incorporating specific bioactive functionalities, whilst at the same time limiting non-specific protein adsorption by the polymer. The approach we developed was to functionalise PLGA scaffolds with diamino-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (diamino-PEG), followed by the grafting of heparin to the free –NH2group at the PEG chain end using a coupling agent. The covalent grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) chains both suppressed non-specific protein attachment and provided a substrate for grafting of heparin, onto which growth factors could be tethered and presented to cells in a bioactive configuration. This approach offers a widely applicable solution to overcome the serious and confounding problem of serum fouling of scaffold surfaces, whilst also providing a generic route for specific biofunctionalisation.

Graphical abstract: Heparin functionalisation of porous PLGA scaffolds for controlled, biologically relevant delivery of growth factors for soft tissue engineering

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Jun 2009
Accepted
15 Oct 2009
First published
03 Nov 2009

J. Mater. Chem., 2009,19, 9265-9273

Heparin functionalisation of porous PLGA scaffolds for controlled, biologically relevant delivery of growth factors for soft tissue engineering

G. Rohman, S. C. Baker, J. Southgate and N. R. Cameron, J. Mater. Chem., 2009, 19, 9265 DOI: 10.1039/B911625G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements