ROMP Polymers for Tissue Scaffolds

Recently, many other examples of well-defined drug- and nucleic acid-conjugated ROMP polymers have also been reported [86-89]. 

Another exciting application for which the ROMP-based platform is applied is tissue engineering. It is well known that tissue engineering scaffolds should have good compatibility and biodegradability, suitable pore architecture (pore size and morphology), cell adhesive properties, and suitable mechanical properties [7, 8, 90-94]. Additionally, the scaffolds need to be hydrophilic to promote diffusion of water-based body liquids and also maintain the shape of the part of the body. 

Besides the chemical and physical properties of the materials, the pore size of the resulting scaffolds must also be controlled [99], as the pores enable migration of water and blood and ingrowth of the cells. Wang and coworkers [100] described a concept of combination of ROMP of NBEs and ROP of LA, followed byfoamingto synthesize highly porous photo-cross-linkable poly(LA-MocA--NBE) 

The development of biodegradable polymers during the last decade has increased exponentially, particularly for new applications mostly in the biomedical field. However, the search for biodegradable and biocompatible polymers with a controlled structure to precisely match enzyme specificity in degradation reactions in different environments is still ongoing. 

The most important factors affecting the degradation profile of biodegradable polymers are molecular weight and structures, and therefore techniques that allow these controls are of considerable interest. In this context, ROMP has already proven more and more often to be a valuable tool for the synthesis of materials with improved chemical, physical, and mechanical properties, and, above all, with varied degradation profiles. 

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