(112c) Increasing the Polymer Backbone Length of Fumarate-Based Polymer Scaffolds Does Not Alter MSC Osteoblastic Differentiation

Poly(propylene fumerate) (PPF) has been developed and used widely in the field of tissue engineering, specifically bone tissue engineering.  Unfortunately, the rate of degradation of PPF is less than the rate of bone formation.  Due to this limitation, work in our laboratory focuses on new synthetic routes to increase the ester hydrolysis of fumarate-based polymers over PPF.  Poly(butylene fumarate) (PBF), an unsaturated linear polyester which differs from PPF by a methylene group, has been synthesized through a ring opening polycondensation reation from maleic anhydride (MA) and butylene glycol (BG).  Previously we have shown that after UV initiated crosslinking, PBF samples have a faster rate of degradation than PPF samples as determined through mass loss and changes in compressive moduli.  Our latest efforts have focused on the cytocompatibility and osteoblastic differentiation of NIH-3T3s (a pre-osteoblastic cell line) and primary rat bone marrow derived messenchymal stem cells (MSC) on the new polymer.  We will present results demonstrating that PBF supports attachment, viability, proliferation, and osteoblastic-differentiation as well, if not better, than PPF.