Polyamide/PEG Blends as Biocompatible Biomaterials for the Convenient Regulation of Cell Adhesion and Growth

In addition to their established usage in textiles, commodities, and automotives, classical polyamides (nylons) are recently becoming increasingly interesting for applications in (bio)medicine. This fact relies on many prosperous properties of these polymers, which are toughness, resistance, biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, tunable biodegradability, and their similarity to natural peptides (amide bonds). Some nylon-based medical products do already exist for wound treatment applications, implants, and biomolecule-interacting membranes, but the systematic use of these polymers for tissue engineering is-although desired-still to be accomplished. Inspired by this, the suitability of nylon 6 and of a related biobased and more hydrophobic terpene-derived polyamide as surfaces for the controlled interaction with HaCat cells (human keratinocytes) are investigated herein with regard to possible applications for regenerative skin replacement. The nylons are applied as neat polymers and as hydrophilized blends/composites with polyethylene glycol and confirm their excellent suitability as biomaterials.