Effect of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate concentration on network properties and in vivo response of poly(β-amino ester) networks.

Poly(β-amino ester) networks have shown promise as tissue scaffolds. The objective of this work was to examine the effect of changing poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate concentration on poly(β-amino ester) network properties and to assess the degradable polymers' in vivo response, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and immunohistochemistry. The networks were synthesized from hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA), poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), and a primary amine, 3-methoxypropylamine (3-MOPA), with a fixed overall molar ratio of diacrylate to amine. Network properties were verified to insure that the networks possessed equivalent initial properties and structure other than chemistry. The effect of varying PEGDA concentration on water content, mass loss, and modulus was determined, where increasing the concentration of PEGDA increases both water content, mass loss rate, and decreases modulus. We also show that manipulating the network composition at ratios of 0:100, 10:90 and 25:75 (PEGDA:HDDA) does not elicit a major inflammatory response to subcutaneous implantation of the networks in mice. This work provides a foundation for tailoring poly(β-amino ester) networks, based on degradation rate and modulus, as a means to tune the polymer properties for various biomedical applications. 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.