PLCL is an aliphatic polyester, a copolymer of L-lactide and ε-caprolactone. Since L-lactide is the raw material for producing polylactic acid, PLCL is also called polylactic acid caprolactone. Through copolymerization modification, PLCL can effectively control the melting point, transparency, toughness and heat resistance of polylactic acid, making up for the shortcomings of blending modification. Polylactic acid (PLA) has good biocompatibility and processing performance, but its degradation rate is slow, it is brittle, and its mechanical strength is low, which limits the application of PLA. Polycaprolactone (PCL) has good biocompatibility, biodegradability and drug permeability, good toughness, processing and thermal shape memory properties, but PCL has low strength and poor hydrophilicity, so its scope of application is limited to a certain extent. Through copolymerization modification, the introduction of CL segments in PLA can adjust the crystallinity, biodegradability and mechanical properties of the product, so that the material has good flexibility and elasticity. As a polymer molecule with good biocompatibility and biodegradability, PLCL can be used in medical, textile and packaging fields. In the medical field, PLCL is used to manufacture medical devices such as surgical sutures, stents and artificial joints. Due to its good biocompatibility and biodegradability, medical devices made of PLCL can be gradually degraded by the human body after completing their original functions, thereby reducing harm to the human body. In addition, PLCL can also be used as a drug carrier, which can control drug release and thus improve drug efficacy. In the packaging field, PLCL can be used to manufacture packaging materials and containers. Due to its excellent mechanical properties and degradability, packaging materials and containers prepared by PLCL have good durability and sealing, which can effectively protect goods while avoiding the pollution of waste to the environment. In the textile field, poly L-lactide-caprolactone (PLCL) can be used to manufacture textiles such as fibers, yarns and fabrics. Due to its good comfort and degradability, textiles prepared from PLCL can provide people with a soft, comfortable and warm wearing experience while avoiding waste and environmental pollution.
Figure 1. Image of fabricated PLCL scaffold.(Y. Yamagishi,et al.; 2014)
PLCL is widely used in the field of medical devices due to its unique properties. Among them, the most prominent ones are the applications in medical sutures, 3D printed bone repair scaffolds, drug carriers, and microspheres. Because PLCL has good biocompatibility and biodegradability, PLCL is very suitable as the raw material for medical sutures. When using the medical sutures made of PLCL, the sutures are stretched 200% and then shaped. After the operation, as the body temperature rises, the shape memory of the surgical thread recovers, and the wound is gradually tightened and closed. The advantages of medical sutures made of PLCL are: 1. It is sensitive to temperature and has good shape memory function; 2. It has good biocompatibility and is biodegradable. In addition to being used as medical sutures, PLCL can also be used in bone tissue engineering scaffolds based on its controllable degradation rate, high flexibility, adjustable elasticity and adjustable tensile strength. Medical sutures and tissue engineering scaffolds prepared by PLCL are highly safe in the human body and can be slowly biodegraded. The degradation products are excreted from the human body with metabolism, and no secondary surgery is required to remove them, which is very attractive in the field of implantable medical devices. The delayed and controlled release of drugs is very important for the treatment of tumors. It controls the release of drugs so that the drugs can be released in a certain part of the human body for a long time and maintain a certain blood drug concentration for a period of time, thereby reducing the number of dosing and avoiding uneven intake. PLCL has good mechanical strength, elasticity and flexibility, and can be prepared into nano drug-loaded fibers by electrospinning, which has good sustained-release properties. Finally, PLCL, as a copolymer of L-polylactic acid and polycaprolactone, balances the support performance and flexibility of the material, and can be prepared into microspheres for use in facial fillers, personal care cosmetics and other fields.
Alternate Names:
Poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)
Poly(L-lactide-co-caprolactone)
References:
1. Y. Yamagishi, et al.; Microfluidic perfusion culture system for artery-like tubular tissues with PLCL scaffolds. 2014, 978-0-9798064-7-6.
Drug-loaded PLCL/PEO-SA bilayer nanofibrous membrane for controlled release
J Biomater Sci Polym Ed
Authors: Huang Y, Wang L, Liu Y, Li T, Xin B
Abstract
The bilayer nanofibrous membrane fabricated via electrospinning technique can be considered as an ideal structure for the treatment of chronic skin diseases and exudative wound dressings. Wound exudate would affect healing and increases the likelihood of infection at the same time. Therefore, it is essential to produce a kind of wound dressing with relatively high hygroscopicity which could absorb wound exudate and provide a relatively dry healing environment. Bilayer nanofibrous membranes of poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)/tetracycline hydrochloride- polyethylene oxide/sodium alginate-zinc oxide (PLCL/TCH-PEO/SA-ZnO) with drug delivery potential were prepared by electrospinning for wound healing. Then, a cross-linking which involved soaking the samples in an aqueous solution containing strontium ions for 4 h was conducted. SEM images showed that membranes still maintained the peculiar nanofibrous structure. The spinning aid (PEO) used was removed in the cross-linked alginate without affecting the PLCL/TCH outer layer gave the membrane good mechanical properties and manageability. The hydrophilicity of the mats was tested to evaluate the ability of the bilayer membrane to absorb exudate from the wound. In vitro drug release suggested that antibacterial agents TCH could release continuously more than 10 days. The cross-linked fibrous membrane has improved mechanical properties and fluid repellency, thus representing a barrier to the external environment and effective wound protection. Consequently, the bilayer fibrous scaffold with good hygroscopicity and drug release properties would have wide applications prospects for the treatment of chronic skin diseases and exudative wound dressings.
Ternary MXene-loaded PLCL/collagen nanofibrous scaffolds that promote spontaneous osteogenic differentiation
Nano Converg
Authors: Lee SH, Jeon S, Qu X, Kang MS, Lee JH, Han DW, Hong SW
Abstract
Conventional bioinert bone grafts often have led to failure in osseointegration due to low bioactivity, thus much effort has been made up to date to find alternatives. Recently, MXene nanoparticles (NPs) have shown prominent results as a rising material by possessing an osteogenic potential to facilitate the bioactivity of bone grafts or scaffolds, which can be attributed to the unique repeating atomic structure of two carbon layers existing between three titanium layers. In this study, we produced MXene NPs-integrated the ternary nanofibrous matrices of poly(L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone, PLCL) and collagen (Col) decorated with MXene NPs (i.e., PLCL/Col/MXene), as novel scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, via electrospinning to explore the potential benefits for the spontaneous osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts. The cultured cells on the physicochemical properties of the nanofibrous PLCL/Col/MXene-based materials revealed favorable interactions with the supportive matrices, highly suitable for the growth and survival of preosteoblasts. Furthermore, the combinatorial ternary material system of the PLCL/Col/MXene nanofibers obviously promoted spontaneous osteodifferentiation with positive cellular responses by providing effective microenvironments for osteogenesis. Therefore, our results suggest that the unprecedented biofunctional advantages of the MXene-integrated PLCL/Col nanofibrous matrices can be expanded to a wide range of strategies for the development of effective scaffolds in bone tissue regeneration.
Novel PLCL nanofibrous/keratin hydrogel bilayer wound dressing for skin wound repair
Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces
Authors: Zhang M, Xu S, Du C, Wang R, Han C, Che Y, Feng W, Wang C, Gao S, Zhao W
Abstract
In this study, a novel poly(L-lactate-caprolactone) copolymer (PLCL) nanofibrous/keratin hydrogel bilayer wound dressing loaded with fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) was prepared by the low-pressure filtration-assisted method. The ability of the keratin hydrogel in the bilayer dressing to mimic the dermis and that of the nanofibrous PLCL to mimic the epidermis were discussed. Keratin hydrogel exhibited good porosity and maximum water absorption of 874.09%. Compared with that of the dressing prepared by the coating method, the interface of the bilayer dressing manufactured by the low-pressure filtration-assisted method (filtration time: 20 min) was tightly bonded, and its bilayer dressing interface could not be easily peeled off. The elastic modulus of hydrogel was about 44 kPa, which was similar to the elastic modulus of the dermis (2-80 kPa). Additionally, PLCL nanofibers had certain toughness and flexibility suitable for simulating the epidermal structures. In vitro studies showed that the bilayer dressing was biocompatible and biodegradable. In vivo studies indicated that PLCL/keratin-FGF-2 bilayer dressing could promote re-epithelialization, collagen deposition, skin appendages (hair follicles) regeneration, microangiogenesis construction, and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) recruitment. The introduction of FGF-2 resulted in a better repair effect. The bilayer dressing also solved the problems of poor interface adhesion of hydrogel/electrospinning nanofibers. This paper also explored the preliminary role and mechanism of bilayer dressing in promoting skin healing, showing that its potential applications as a biomedical wound dressing in the field of skin tissue engineering.
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