Effect of composition on morphology structure and cell affinity of poly(caprolactone‐co‐glycolide)‐co‐poly(ethylene glycol) microspheres

Abstract

Poly(caprolactone-co-glycolide)-co-poly(ethylene gylcol) copolymers (PCEG) with various composition were synthesized by copolymerization of GA, CL, and PEG. PCEG microspheres were fabricated by oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion and solventevaporation technique. Effect of chemical composition on hydrophilicity, crystallinity, and degradation of the PCEG was investigated. It was demonstrated that morphology structure of the microspheres was greatly influenced by chemical composition and hydrophilicity of the PCEG polymer. PCEG microspheres could change from a smooth structure to a regular porous structure and an irregular structure. Moreover, the pore size of them increased with increment of PEG content and length. Cell attachment and growth on the PCEG microspheres were evaluated by using mouse NIH 3T3 fibroblasts as model cells in vitro. The result showed that the PCEG microspheres with large porous structure were more favorable for cell attachment and growth. Thus the PCEG microspheres with rapid degradation rate and large porous structure possess potential use as injectable scaffolds in tissue engineering. V C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 42861.

How to circumvent untoward drug crystallization during emulsion‐templated microencapsulation process

“…Poly‐ d,l ‐lactide‐ co ‐glycolide (PLGA) microspheres are actively used in long‐acting depot systems of various pharmaceuticals, chemoembolizing agents for the treatment of unresectable tumors, and cosmetic fillers for the correction of nasolabial folds . Nowadays, PLGA microspheres are also widely used as biodegradable scaffolds in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine . Compared to other three‐dimensional scaffolds that have fixed forms, microparticulate scaffolds make it possible to target defects and fill cavities simply through injection without surgical intervention.…”