Biocompatibility of medical implant materials. artificial biopolymers
The work of this group is focused on tissue engineering and
biomaterials science with a unique focus on the development of new
degradable polymers. During the last years. we established the feasibility
of preparing "pseudo"-poly(amino acids). amino acid derived. degradable polymers in which individual amino acids are linked by
non-amide bonds. Among the pseudo-poly(amino acids). we identified a
number of new polymers that exhibited good engineering and
physicomechanical properties. as well as a high degree of
biocompatibility. For example. tyrosine derived polycarbonates were shown
to be promising materials for implantable drug delivery systems and
orthopedic implants. copolymers of the natural amino acid L-lysine and
poly(ethylene glycol) were successfully used as drug carriers. and
polymeric conjugates of cis-hydroxyproline were prepared and found to
exhibit powerful antifibrotic activity. We are also engaged in a detailed
investigation of the biological properties of pseudo-poly(amino acids). including toxicological testing. cell-polymer interactions. and the effect
of surface properties on the attachment and growth of various cell lines.
The insights gained from these basic studies are used to create optimized
polymeric scaffolds (sponge-like implants) for tissue reconstruction and
tissue engineering. Thus. our long-term goals are to contribute to a
better understanding of the interactions of pseudo-poly(amino acids) with
living tissues and to use the knowledge gained to develop optimized
polymeric implant materials for a wide range of medical applications.
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