PLGA-PEG-PLGA incorporating growth factors used for regenerative cell scaffold

PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) provides a wide array of triblock PLGA-PEG-PLGA thermogels which includes Polyvivo AK12, AK24, AK92, and others.  Recently these types of polymers were investigated for use as cellular scaffolds when incorporating a variety of growth factors. Read more: Zheng, Ling, Lin Wang, Jie Qin, Xiaolin Sun, Tingting Yang, Yuxin Ni, and Yanmin Zhou. "New Biodegradable Implant Material Containing Hydrogel with Growth Factors of Lyophilized PRF in Combination with an nHA/PLGA Scaffold." Journal of Hard Tissue Biology 24, no. 1 (2015): 54-60. full-text: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jhtb/24/1/24_54/_pdf

“Abstract: The temperature-sensitive triblock copolymer poly-(D, L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-PLGA (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) is an FDA-approved material that has the ability to provide a sustained release of drugs and/or proteins. Platelet-rich fibrin(PRF)is second generation platelet concentration that contains growth factors such as transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), platelet derived growth factor-AB (PDGF-AB), and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). These growth factors affect the migration and proliferation of diverse cell types, including endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and osteoblast-like cells. This study sought to combine the hydrogel into scaffolds in order to serve as a sustained release system for PRF-derived growth factors. Poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) were used to prepare the hydrogel-containing scaffolds with the PRF-derived growth factors. We then investigated the effects of the hydrogel on modulating the activity of osteoblasts in vitro. We indicated that the hydrogel (Gel) was well-distributed in the inner surface of scaffolds, which themselves exhibited relatively interconnected pores with uniform sizes. The addition of the hydrogel didn’t affect their inherently high porosity. In vitro release tests indicated that the system containing nHA/PLGA/Gel/PRF provided for a slow and sustained release of PRF-derived growth factors. The results from our in vitro studies indicated that the MG63 cells cultured with both scaffold media extracts did not appear to have cytotoxic responses, and the nHA/PLGA/Gel/PRF system could improve the adhesion and proliferation of MG63 cells when compared to controls (p < 0.05). This in vitro evaluation suggests that the hydrogel-scaffold system is suitable as a model for bone tissue engineering, and that it allows for the sustained release of growth factors to improve bone reconstruction.”