title: Medical application of microbial biopolyesters polyhydroxyalkanoates.
abstract: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of polyesters synthesized by microorganisms under unbalanced growth conditions. PHA including poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV), poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB), copolymers of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate (PHBHHx), and poly-3-hydroxyoctanoate (PHO) are now available in sufficient quantity for tissue engineering medical application studies due to their reasonable biocompatibility, adjustable mechanical properties, and controllable biodegradability. This paper reviews many achievements based on PHA for medical devices development, tissue repair, artificial organ construction, drug delivery, and nutritional/therapeutic uses. Combined with the recent FDA approval for P4HB clinical application, one can expect a good prospect for PHA application in the medical fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Protein Science Laboratory of the Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guo-Qiang
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000091402:Prohibitins; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: C000717328:PHB protein, human; D054813:Polyhydroxyalkanoates; D000091402:Prohibitins