Recent Advances and the Application of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) as Tissue Engineering Materials

Abstract

Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), commonly referred to PHBV, are promising materials for tissue engineering applications because they are biodegradable, non-toxic and biocompatible. The surface modified PHBV and hybrid PHBV allow favorable mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and degradation times within desirable time frames under specific physiological conditions. We will shortly summarize what has been achieved in the PHBV tissue engineering area, namely, the surface modification reactions including functionalization and grafting reactions, as well as blending or compositing with other materials to improve the mechanical, thermal and hydrophilic properties, and the influence on cell-material interactions is also overviewed in the recent 5 years (from 2008 to 2012).

Keywords:

• PHBV
• tissue engineering
• surface modification
• blending
• biocompatibility
• cell

Acknowledgments

The supports by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20904010, No. 21274045) and the Pearl River in Guangzhou city of Nova of Science and Technology Special Funded Projects (No. 2012J2200009) are gratefully acknowledged.