This work reports the development and in vivo evaluation of an injectable biodegradable gel based on a blend of polycaprolactone and sebacic acid. It was carried out and patented in collaboration with the team of Professor Cecília Zavaglia, from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil.

Injectable biodegradable polycaprolactone-sebacic acid gels for bone tissue engineering

Christiane L. Salgado, Elisabete M.S. Sanchez, Cecília A.C. Zavaglia, Ana B.A. Almeida, and Pedro L. Granja. Tissue Engineering, 2011.

Tissue engineering constitutes a promising alternative technology to transplantation medicine by creating viable substitutes for failing tissues or organs. The ability to manipulate and reconstitute tissue function has tremendous clinical implications and will most likely play a key role in cell and gene therapies in the coming years. In the present work, a novel injectable and biodegradable biomaterial is reported, which could be injected on the human body with a surgical syringe. The material prepared is a blend of polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable and elastic biomedical polymer, and sebacic acid (SA), a natural polymer part of castor oil with low molecular weight to accelerate the slow degradation rate of PCL. The biocompatibility of the blend was evaluated in vitro and it’s in vivo behavior was also assessed through subcutaneous and bone implantation in rats to evaluate its tissue forming ability and degradation rate. The results allowed the conclusion that the gel is biocompatible, promotes the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and presents an adequate degradation rate for use in bone tissue engineering. In vivo the gel blends promoted tissue regeneration and adverse reactions were not observed on subcutaneous and bone implants.