Photo-crosslinked networks based on panthenol-derived polyesters: degradable materials for biomedical applications

Tissue engineering has an increasing demand for safe materials that can support complex architectures in tissue regeneration. The development of new biodegradable polymers is a challenge that needs to be constantly addressed to drive the advancements towards biomedical applications. In this study, a new polyester based on D,L-panthenol, poly(D,L-4,3′-panthenyl adipate) (PPA), was successfully synthesized, modified, and photo-crosslinked. While panthenol (also called provitamin B5, a cofactor present in a plethora of metabolic reactions) is widely used in the cosmetic industry due to its moisturizing and wound-healing properties, to the best of our knowledge, no previous records of panthenol-derived polycondensation exist in the literature. The synthesized PPA, a polyol, was modified by introducing acryloyl moieties, yielding an amorphous PPA acrylate with around 67 % of double bonds. The acrylate system allows the incorporation of a wide range of co-crosslinkers with diverse reactivities and functional groups, enabling straightforward tuning of network properties. Various co-monomers or co-crosslinkers were incorporated, including N-isopropylacrylamide, N-vinylpyrrolidone, 1-vinylimidazole, 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, and divinyl adipate, yielding exceptional efficiency in photo-curing, achieving high network densities with rapid gelation kinetics, and full double bond conversion. The systems have proven to be hydrolytically degradable with tunable degradation rates and non-cytotoxic towards NIH-3T3 cell lines. These photo-curable systems are promising candidates for light-based scaffold biofabrication techniques. Moreover, the potential for panthenol-derived polymer functionalization with different unsaturated groups unlocks exciting possibilities for biomedical applications. • Panthenol was used for the first time as a monomer in step-growth polymerization. • Poly(panthenyl adipate), PPA, was acrylated to produce the photo-curable PPA-AC. • PPA-AC was combined with vinylic monomers to produce tailorable materials. • PPA-AC materials are degradable and suitable for light-based biofabrication. • Panthenol-based polymers allow diverse functionalization for biomedical use.