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Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes

Polylactide (PLA) is among the most commonly used polymers for biomedical applications thanks to its biodegradability and cytocompatibility. However, its inherent stiffness and brittleness are clearly inappropriate for the regeneration of soft tissues (e.g., neural tissue), which demands biomaterial...

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Autores principales: Bello-Álvarez, Carlos, Etxeberria, Agustin, Polo, Yurena, Sarasua, Jose-Ramon, Zuza, Ester, Larrañaga, Aitor
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9658163/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36365648
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14214656
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author Bello-Álvarez, Carlos
Etxeberria, Agustin
Polo, Yurena
Sarasua, Jose-Ramon
Zuza, Ester
Larrañaga, Aitor
author_facet Bello-Álvarez, Carlos
Etxeberria, Agustin
Polo, Yurena
Sarasua, Jose-Ramon
Zuza, Ester
Larrañaga, Aitor
author_sort Bello-Álvarez, Carlos
collection PubMed
description Polylactide (PLA) is among the most commonly used polymers for biomedical applications thanks to its biodegradability and cytocompatibility. However, its inherent stiffness and brittleness are clearly inappropriate for the regeneration of soft tissues (e.g., neural tissue), which demands biomaterials with soft and elastomeric behavior capable of resembling the mechanical properties of the native tissue. In this work, both L- and D,L-lactide were copolymerized with ethylene brassylate, a macrolactone that represents a promising alternative to previously studied comonomers (e.g., caprolactone) due to its natural origin. The resulting copolymers showed an elastomeric behavior characterized by relatively low Young’s modulus, high elongation at break and high strain recovery capacity. The thermoplastic nature of the resulting copolymers allows the incorporation of nanofillers (i.e., carbon nanotubes) that further enable the modulation of their mechanical properties. Additionally, nanostructured scaffolds were easily fabricated through a thermo-pressing process with the aid of a commercially available silicon stamp, providing geometrical cues for the adhesion and elongation of cells representative of the nervous system (i.e., astrocytes). Accordingly, the lactide and ethylene brassylate-based copolymers synthesized herein represent an interesting formulation for the development of polymeric scaffolds intended to be used in the regeneration of soft tissues, thanks to their adjustable mechanical properties, thermoplastic nature and observed cytocompatibility.
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spelling pubmed-96581632022-11-15 Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes Bello-Álvarez, Carlos Etxeberria, Agustin Polo, Yurena Sarasua, Jose-Ramon Zuza, Ester Larrañaga, Aitor Polymers (Basel) Article Polylactide (PLA) is among the most commonly used polymers for biomedical applications thanks to its biodegradability and cytocompatibility. However, its inherent stiffness and brittleness are clearly inappropriate for the regeneration of soft tissues (e.g., neural tissue), which demands biomaterials with soft and elastomeric behavior capable of resembling the mechanical properties of the native tissue. In this work, both L- and D,L-lactide were copolymerized with ethylene brassylate, a macrolactone that represents a promising alternative to previously studied comonomers (e.g., caprolactone) due to its natural origin. The resulting copolymers showed an elastomeric behavior characterized by relatively low Young’s modulus, high elongation at break and high strain recovery capacity. The thermoplastic nature of the resulting copolymers allows the incorporation of nanofillers (i.e., carbon nanotubes) that further enable the modulation of their mechanical properties. Additionally, nanostructured scaffolds were easily fabricated through a thermo-pressing process with the aid of a commercially available silicon stamp, providing geometrical cues for the adhesion and elongation of cells representative of the nervous system (i.e., astrocytes). Accordingly, the lactide and ethylene brassylate-based copolymers synthesized herein represent an interesting formulation for the development of polymeric scaffolds intended to be used in the regeneration of soft tissues, thanks to their adjustable mechanical properties, thermoplastic nature and observed cytocompatibility. MDPI 2022-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC9658163/ /pubmed/36365648 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14214656 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bello-Álvarez, Carlos
Etxeberria, Agustin
Polo, Yurena
Sarasua, Jose-Ramon
Zuza, Ester
Larrañaga, Aitor
Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title_full Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title_fullStr Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title_full_unstemmed Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title_short Lactide and Ethylene Brassylate-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers and Their Nanocomposites with Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis, Mechanical Properties and Interaction with Astrocytes
title_sort lactide and ethylene brassylate-based thermoplastic elastomers and their nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes: synthesis, mechanical properties and interaction with astrocytes
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9658163/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36365648
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14214656
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