Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2021, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (22): 3571-3577.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.3176

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Status and problems of polycaprolactone and its composite materials in bone tissue engineering

Zhang Zhenhua1, 2, Liu Zichen1, 2, Yu Baoqing2   

  1. 1University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China; 2Department of Orthopedics, Pudong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201399, China
  • Received:2020-05-06 Revised:2020-05-12 Accepted:2020-07-06 Online:2021-08-08 Published:2021-01-21
  • Contact: Yu Baoqing, Professor, Chief physician, Department of Orthopedics, Pudong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201399, China
  • About author:Zhang Zhenhua, Master candidate, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China; Department of Orthopedics, Pudong Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201399, China
  • Supported by:
    the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81971753 (to YBQ); the Key Discipline Group Construction Project of Health System in Pudong New Area of Shanghai, No. PWZxq2017-11 (to YBQ); the Shanghai Key Medical Specialty Program, No. ZK2019C01 (to YBQ); the Plateau Discipline Construction Project of Shanghai Pudong New Area, No. PWYgy2018-09 (to YBQ); the Shanghai Medical Leading Talents Program, No. 046 (to YBQ)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: With the development of bone tissue engineering, the role of scaffold materials has become more and more important. Polycaprolactone and its composite materials have also increasingly attracted researchers to become one of the research highlights in this field.
OBJECTIVE: To introduce the basic properties and synthesis methods of polycaprolactone, to summarize the research status of polycaprolactone and its composite materials in the field of bone tissue engineering, and to prospect the future development and research direction.
METHODS: These articles published from 1950 to 2020 in Web of Science database were retrieved by using the search terms “PCL, PCL composites, bone tissue engineering, scaffold, bone, PCL synthesis”, taking “and” as the logical combination relationship. Totally 253 articles were initially obtained, and finally 52 articles were reviewed and analyzed after careful reading and selection.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Pure polycaprolactone materials have certain shortcomings in bone tissue engineering. Due to their easy chemical modification and physical modification, polycaprolactone composite undoubtedly has become one of the candidate materials for bone tissue engineering scaffolds. (2) Due to the excellent solubility and thermal properties of polycaprolactone, it can be applied to a variety of scaffold preparation technologies. The appropriate scaffold preparation technology can be selected according to the application site. A variety of scaffold preparation technologies also broaden the application field of polycaprolactone, and there are also developed some novel technologies, so scaffold preparation technology should also attract the attention researchers. (3) For the modification direction of polycaprolactone, the modification of inorganic substances and natural or synthetic polymers has received extensive attention. (4) In terms of experimental research methods, researchers should pay attention to introducing more kinds of experimental cells and experimental models in accordance with clinical needs. 

Key words: bone, material, polycaprolactone, composite material, bone tissue engineering, biological scaffold, bone defect, orthopedic implant, review

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