Bone, cardiac, cartilage, and skin tissue engineering: Novel applications and limitations of synthetic polymers

Scaffolds based on natural and synthetic polymers are vital in regenerative medicine, specifically tissue engineering. Synthetic polymers having biocompatibility and biodegradability have attracted great attention because of low immunological concerns. Biodegradable synthetic polymers related to the alpha-polyesters, including polylactides and polyglycolides, can be formed in different formulations such as microspheres, hydrogels, and nanofibrous scaffolds. These polymeric materials have been applied abundantly in tissue engineering to produce bioartificial liver devices, pancreas, bladder, articular cartilage, bone, skin, and heart. However, there are still major limitations, such as a lack of cell adhesion sites and unsuitable mechanical properties to applications of synthetic polymers. Therefore, this mini-review has attempted to address these limitations in recent investigations in bone, cardiac, cartilage, and skin tissue engineering.

کلیدواژه ها:

Alpha-polyesters ، Polylactides ، Polyglycolides ، Articular Cartilage ، Bioartificial bone