A QUALITATIVE IN-VITRO EVALUATION OF THE DEGRADABLE MATERIALS POLY(CAPROLACTONE) - POLY(HYDROXYBUTYRATE) AND A POLY(HYDROXYBUTYRATE)-(HYDROXYVALERATE) COPOLYMER

A qualitative in vitro evaluation of poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly (hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and a poly (hydroxybutyrate)-(hydroxyvalerate) (PHB-PHV) copolymer was carried out using primary human osteoblasts (HOB) and a human osteosarcoma (HOS) cell line. The cells were grown on films of these polymers and cultured for 2 and 4 days with cells grown on Thermanox as a control. The cells on each of the polymers exhibited different cellular morphologies with different rates of cell proliferation. Results from a preliminary degradation study demonstrated that biodegradable materials can be partially degraded using enzymes such as papain and trypsin. Of the solutions tested, papain caused the greatest degradation, with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) a physiological buffer having very little effect over a six week period. The bone cells were grown on partially degraded polymers and no differences in the performance of HOS and HOB cells on the materials were observed.