Biopolyesters in Tissue Engineering Applications - Advances in Polymer Science - page 2

PHAs refers to poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and its copolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -
3-hydroxyvalerate). In recent years, other PHAs, such as poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) and
poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate- co -3-hydroxyhexanoate), have drawn increasing attention as vi-
able materials for biomedical applications. Copolymers of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and
medium-chain-length hydroxyalkanoates offer the advantage of having elastomeric prop-
erties. This is of particular importance for engineering of elastomeric tissue, such as in
the cardiovascular system, and for providing mechanical stimuli, such as in cartilage re-
pair. This review will describe the characteristics of promising biopolyesters for tissue
engineering, together with strategies that can be used to adjust the material properties
to the clinical requirements; examples of potential applications will also be presented.

Keywords Biocompatibility · Biodegradability · Mechanical properties ·

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Poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s Tissue engineering applications

Abbreviations
3HB 3-Hydroxybutyrate
3HH 3-Hydroxyhexanoate
3HV 3-Hydroxyvalerate
4HB 4-Hydroxybutyrate
at-P3HB Atactic P3HB
BTHC Butyryltrihexyl citrate
dg-P3HB Degraded P3HB
ECM Extracellular matrix
HA Hydroxyapatite
i.m. Intramuscular, intramuscularly
i.p. Intraperitoneal, intraperitoneally
P3HB Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)
P3HB-3HV Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyvalerate)
P3HB-4HB Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -4-hydroxybutyrate)
P3HB-3HH Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyhexanoate)
P3HO-3HH Poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate- co -3-hydroxyhexanoate)
P3HU Poly(3-hydroxyundecenoate)

P4HB Poly(4-hydroxybutyrate)

PCL Poly( ε -caprolactone)

PDLLA Poly(d,l-lactide)

PEG Poly(ethylene glycol)

PGA Poly(glycolide)

PHA Poly(hydroxyalkanoate)

PLGA Poly(d,l-lactide- co -glycolide)

PLLA Poly(l-lactide)

s.c. Subcutaneous, subcutaneously

st-P3HB Syndiotactic P3HB

TCP Tricalcium phosphate

TEC Triethyl citrate