Publication

Direct uv-triggered thiol–ene cross-linking of electrospun polyester fibers from unsaturated poly(macrolactone)s and their drug loading by solvent swelling

de Oliveira, Fernando C. S.
; 
Olvera, Dinorath
; 
Sawkins, Michael J.
; 
Cryan, Sally-Ann
; 
Kimmins, Scott D.
; 
da Silva, Tatiane Eufrasio
; 
Kelly, Daniel J.
; 
Duffy, Garry P.
; 
Kearney, Cathal
; 
Heise, Andreas
Repository DOI
Publication Date
2017-11-14
Keywords
ring-opening polymerization, poly-epsilon-caprolactone, high-molecular-weight, omega-pentadecalactone, nanofibrous scaffolds, mechanical-properties, regenerative medicine, macrolactones, delivery, copolymers
Type
Article
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Citation
de Oliveira, Fernando C. S. Olvera, Dinorath; Sawkins, Michael J.; Cryan, Sally-Ann; Kimmins, Scott D.; da Silva, Tatiane Eufrasio; Kelly, Daniel J.; Duffy, Garry P.; Kearney, Cathal; Heise, Andreas (2017). Direct uv-triggered thiol–ene cross-linking of electrospun polyester fibers from unsaturated poly(macrolactone)s and their drug loading by solvent swelling. Biomacromolecules 18 (12), 4292-4298
Abstract
Electrospinning is considered a relatively simple and versatile technique to form high porosity porous scaffolds with micron to nanoscale fibers for biomedical applications. Here, electrospinning of unsaturated aliphatic polyglobalide (PG1) into well-defined fibers with an average diameter of 9 mu m is demonstrated. Addition of a dithiol cross-linker and a photoinitiator to the polymer solution enabled the UV-triggered intracross-linking of the fibers during the spinning process. The in situ cross-linking of the fibers resulted in amorphous material able to swell up to 14% in tetrahydrofurane (THF) without losing the fiber morphology. Seeding mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) onto both cross-linked and non-cross-linked PG1 fibers proved their compatibility with MSCs and suitability as scaffolds for cell growth and proliferation of MSCs. Moreover, the ability to directly load cross-linked PG1 with hydrophobic molecules by soaking the fiber mesh in solution is shown with Rhodamine B and Indomethacin, a hydrophobic anti-inflammatory drug. This marks an advantage over conventional aliphatic polyesters and opens opportunities for the design of drug loaded polyester scaffolds for biomedical applications or tissue engineering.
Funder
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Publisher DOI
10.1021/acs.biomac.7b01335
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland
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Externally hosted open access publications with University of Galway authors (2)