Abstract
Poly(lactide) (PLA) is a widely used biomaterial in many biomedical applications. However, it isinert and therefore lacks bioactivity, which is a major drawback in addressing tissue regenerationissues. This work aims to develop new implantable biomaterials composed of PLAsfunctionalized with bioactive peptides. For that purpose, we set up an original synthesis based onstar-PLA bearing triethoxysilyl propyl groups (PLA-PTES) and bifunctional silylated peptidesthat react together via sol-gel process to create a bioactive network. We demonstrate that themolecular weight of the PLA and the quantity of peptide have a large influence on thecrosslinking efficiency, the mechanical properties and the biodegradability of the resultingmaterials. The presence of peptide increases the crosslinking efficiency of the networks resultingin more rigid networks with stable mechanical properties up to 8 weeks. At last, the potential of this new type of hybrid biomaterials for soft tissue engineering was demonstrated through cellsadhesion assays that showed a significant enhancement of fibroblasts adhesion.