Material Properties and Biocompatibility of Self-Crosslinkable Poly(caprolactone fumarate) copolymer as a Scaffold for Guided Tissue Regeneration

Introduction Many clinical situations require treatment options for bone defects. Biodegradable scaffolds that can be injected and crosslinked in situ to fill these defects offer attractive additions to existing methods [1]. Although biocompatible polymers that can be injected and crosslinked in situ have been developed for bone tissue engineering, a toxic crosslinking agent such as N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) or methacrylic anhydride in amounts greater than 20% by weight of the macromer is required for crosslinking [2]. We recently developed a novel semicrystalline poly(caprolactone-fumarate) (PCLF) macromer that self-crosslinks in the absence of a crosslinking agent. This semi-crystalline copolymer has a melting point between 45-55•C depending on PCL molecular weight and degree of copolymerization. Above its melting point, the copolymer is a liquid and it can be used as an injectable matrix to fill irregularly shaped defects. As the matrix cools to physiological temperature, the copolymer self-crosslinks and hardens in-situ physically by crystallization and chemically by radical polymerization. The objective of this work was to characterize the material properties and biocompatibility of the PCLF macromer.