We present an investigation of the preparation of highly porous hydrogels based on biodegradable synthetic poly(α-amino acid) as potential tissue engineering scaffolds. Covalently cross-linked gels with permanent pores were formed under cryogenic conditions by free-radical copolymerization of poly[N(5)-(2-hydroxyethyl)-L-glutamine-stat-N(5)-(2-methacryloyl-oxy-ethyl)-L-glutamine] (PHEG-MA) with 2-hydrohyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and, optionally, N-propargyl acrylamide (PrAAm) as minor comonomers. The morphology of the cryogels showed interconnected polyhedral or laminar pores. The volume content of communicating water-filled pores was >90%. The storage moduli of the swollen cryogels were in the range of 1-6 kPa, even when the water content was >95%. The enzymatic degradation of a cryogel corresponded to the decrease in its storage modulus during incubation with papain, a model enzyme with specificity analogous to wound-healing enzymes. It was shown that cryogels with incorporated alkyne groups can easily be modified with short synthetic peptides using azide-alkyne cycloaddition "click" chemistry, thus providing porous hydrogel scaffolds with biomimetic features.

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic 162 06 Prague Czech Republic Department of Biomaterials and Bioanalogous Polymer Systems Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry Heyrovsky sq 2 162 06 Prague 6 Czech Republic

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