| abstract |
Biomaterials containing a three-dimensional polymeric network formed from the reaction of a composition containing at least a first synthetic precursor molecule having n nucleophilic groups and a second precursor molecule having m electrophilic groups wherein the sum of n+m is at least five and wherein the sum of the weights of the first and second precursor molecules is in a range from about 8 to about 16% b weight of the composition, preferably from about 10 to about 15%, more preferably from about 12 to about 14.5% by weight of the composition. In one embodiment, the first and second precursor molecules are polyethylene glycols functionalized with nucleophilic and electrophilic groups, respectively. In a preferred embodiment, the nucleophilic groups are amino and/or thiol groups and the electrophilic groups are conjugated, unsaturated groups. The ratio of the equivalent weights of the electrophilic groups (second precursor molecule) and the nucleophilic groups (first precursor molecule) is in the range of between 0.7 and 1.1, more preferably between 0.8 and 1.0. The first and/or second precursor molecule may be covalently bound to one or more molecules selected from the group consisting of cell adhesion peptides, growth factors, and growth factor-like peptides. |