| Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) represents a class of biodegradable polymers, which are used extensively in biomaterials such as dissolvable sutures, surgical implants, matrices for drug delivery, and scaffolds for tissue engineering. In order to improve the biocompatibility of these materials, research groups have designed copolymers of PLA with the goal of introducing unique functionality and enhancing cell adhesion properties. Our group has also made progress in this area of research. However, the approach of our research is different, in that we are employing a post-polymerization modification of a common biodegradable polymer based on PLA. Using diallylglycolide as a comonomer, we have synthesized a single biodegradable copolymer, which is able to undergo functional group transformations through existing methods commonly used in organic chemistry.; We have demonstrated that olefin cross metathesis and hydroboration/oxidation transformations are both successful methods of functionalizing PLA. However, the most successful method of functionalizing PLA was readily achieved via DCC coupling of various bioactive substrates with our functional copolymer. After synthesizing a series of copolymers containing bioactive substrates we prepared thin films of the polymers and examined their ability to support tissue growth, specifically osteoblast growth and differentiation. The synthesis and characterization of these copolymers as well as the initial results of physiological experiments using our biodegradable copolymers are reported. |
