title: Templated mineralization of synthetic hydrogels for bone-like composite materials: role of matrix hydrophobicity.
abstract: Bone-mimetic mineral-polymer composite materials have several applications ranging from artificial bone grafts to scaffolds for bone tissue engineering; templated mineralization is an effective approach to fabricate such composites. In this study, we synthesized bone-like composites using synthetic hydrogels having pendant side chains terminating with carboxyl groups as a template for mineralization. The role of matrix hydrophobicity on mineralization was examined using poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels modified with varying lengths of anionic pendant side chains (CH(2) horizontal lineCHCONH(CH(2))(n)COOH, where n = 1, 3, 5, and 7). The ability of these hydrogels to undergo templated mineralization was found to be strongly dependent upon the length of the pendant side chain as is evident from the extent of calcification and morphology of the minerals. Moreover, mineralized phases formed on the hydrogels were confirmed to resemble apatite-like structures. In addition to demonstrating the importance of material hydrophobicity as a design parameter for the development of bone-like synthetic materials, our study also provides a potential explanation for the in vitro differences between the apatite-nucleating capacity of aspartate-rich osteopontin and glutamate-rich bone sialoprotein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biongineering, MC 0412, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0412, USA.
authors.forename: Ameya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Phadke
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yongsung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vecchio
authors.forename: Shyni
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Varghese
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D001842:Bone and Bones; D020100:Hydrogels; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001798:Blood Proteins; D020100:Hydrogels