(420d) Synthetic Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

Recent developments in biomaterials technology have enabled the production of biodegradable, cytocompatible tissue engineering scaffolds that can be tailored with appropriate mechanical and biological signals to restore damaged tissue in specific sites in the body. For instance, our laboratory has developed a class of fumarate-based polymers for the controlled delivery of cells and/or bioactive agents to improve tissue repair. We have applied this technology to fabricate biodegradable synthetic scaffolds from a hydrophilic fumarate-based polymer, oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate), and load bearing scaffolds from a hydrophobic fumarate-based polymer, poly(propylene fumarate). These synthetic scaffolds have been widely investigated as injectable carriers for marrow derived stem cells and/or controlled bioactive factor delivery to promote regeneration of orthopedic tissues. Additionally, composites of fumarate-based polymers and nanomaterials have been explored to provide a means of increasing the mechanical integrity of synthetic tissue engineering scaffolds. This talk will present examples of fumarate-based materials from our laboratory to illustrate significant recent advances in synthetic scaffold technology for tissue engineering.