Thermoresponsive polymer surfaces and their application in tissue engineering

This short review addresses the synthesis of thermoresponsive polymer surfaces and their application for cell tissue engineering. Four classes of synthetic thermoresponsive polymers are discussed: poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)s, poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate]s, polyoxazolines and polyethers, most notably, polyglycidol. Synthetic routes leading to thermoresponsive layers on solid support are described. Relationships between structures of the layers and their interactions with cells are analyzed. Chemical (copolymerization or the inclusion of biologically active species) and physical (patterning or the morphology of the surfaces) modifications of macromolecular surfaces are described and their relations to the growth and detachment of cell sheets are reviewed. The application of cell sheets grown and detached from thermoresponsive surfaces to treat diseases is also presented.