SBIR Phase I: Ferroelectric Scaffolds for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在利用阿尔法螺旋多肽的铁电(FE)特性来开发用于组织修复的材料，特别是体外和体内的神经纤维突起。已知的是，当在磁场或电场中排列时，聚L-谷氨酸酯(PRLG‘s)具有压电(PE)性质。取向偶极子的分子构象表明，在外加电场的作用下，取向膜中偶极子矢量的方向可能发生反转，从而产生有限元性质。鉴于我们发现了聚甲基L-谷氨酸的FE行为，这一阶段的项目将专注于建立这种生物相容性材料的可行性，以增强体内组织修复的潜在临床应用于周围神经再生。铁电材料有很多应用：热释电探测器、超声波和电声换能器以及超声光调制器。PRLG在外加电场中可以很容易地被排列成具有强烈偶极排列的薄膜，这表明它和其他自组织和可对准的生物聚合物也可能是开发用于组织再生的FE材料的合适材料。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is designed to utilize the ferroelectric (FE) properties of alpha helical polypeptides for development of materials for use in tissue repair, especially nerve fiber outgrowths in vitro and in vivo. Esters of poly-L-glutamic acids (PRLG's) are known to display piezoelectric (PE) properties when aligned in magnetic or electric fields. The molecular conformation of the aligned dipoles suggested that the direction of the dipole vector in aligned films may be reversed by application of an electric field, thus giving rise to FE properties. Given our discovery of the FE behavior of poly-methyl-L-glutamic acid, this Phase I project will focus on establishing the feasibility of this biocompatible material to enhance tissue repair in vivo for potential clinical application to peripheral nerve regeneration. Ferroelectrics find a number of applications: pyroelectric detectors, ultrasonic and electroacoustic transducers, and ultrasonic light modulators. The ease with which PRLG can be ordered in an externally applied electric field to create a film with strong dipole alignment suggests that it and other self-organizing and alignable biopolymers may also be suitable materials for development of FE materials for tissue regeneration.