Blended Polyurethane and Tropoelastin as a Novel Class of Biologically Interactive Elastomer.

ABSTRACT: Polyurethanes are versatile elastomers but suffer from biological limitations such as poor control over cell attachment and the associated disadvantages of increased fibrosis. We address this problem by presenting a novel strategy that retains elasticity while modulating biological performance. We describe a new biomaterial that comprises a blend of synthetic and natural elastomers: the biostable polyurethane Elast-Eon and the recombinant human tropoelastin protein. We demonstrate that the hybrid constructs yield a class of coblended elastomers with unique physical properties. Hybrid constructs displayed higher elasticity and linear stress-strain responses over more than threefold strain. The hybrid materials showed increased overall porosity and swelling in comparison to polyurethane alon

SUBMITTER: Wise SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4800272 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature