DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELASTIC POLYMER-BASED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR TISSUE REGENERATION

In spite of the vast research on polymer-based tissue regeneration, extensive studies to develop an elastic and cell-promoting polymer biomaterial are still ongoing. However, using a renewable resource and a simple, environment-friendly synthesis route to synthesize an elastic polymer has not been successfully achieved yet.
The objective of this work was to develop an elastic polymer for tissue engineering and drug delivery applications by using non-toxic, inexpensive and renewable monomers. A new nature-derived renewable material, xylitol, was used to synthesize an elastic polymer with the presence of a crosslinking agent, dodecanedioic acid. Here a simple melt condensation polymerization method was used to synthesize the poly(xylitoldodecanedioic acid)(PXDDA). The physicochemical and biological properties of the new PXDDA polymer were characterized. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) confirmed the formation of ester bonding in the polymer structure, and thermal analysis demonstrated that the polymer was completely amorphous. The polymer shows high elasticity. Increasing the molar ratio of dodecanedioic acid resulted in higher hydrophobicity and lower glass transition temperature. Further, the polymer degradation and in vitro dye release studies revealed that the degradation and dye release from the polymer became slower when the amount of dodecanedioic acid in the composite increased.