Inherently Antimicrobial Biodegradable Polymers in Tissue Engineering

Many of the strategies currently being explored in the field of tissue engineering involve the combination of cells and degradable engineered scaffolds for the regeneration of biological tissues. However, infection of the wound or the scaffold itself results in failure of healing. Therefore, a new area of development in the field is the synthesis of polymer-based scaffolds that inherently have the ability to resist microbial infection as degradation occurs and new tissue replaces the scaffold. These scaffolds, defined as inherently antimicrobial biodegradable polymers (IABPs), can be classified based on their monomeric components as follows: (1) traditional antimicrobials (such as beta-lactams, fluoroquinolones, glycopeptides, and aminoglycosides), (2) naturally derived compounds (such as extracellular matrix components, chitosan, and antimicrobial peptides), and (3) novel synthetic antimicrobials. After validation of chemical synthesis as well as physicochemical characterization of a newly created IABP, thorough in vitro and in vivo assays must be conducted to ensure antimicrobial efficacy as well as biocompatibility as a tissue-engineered scaffold system. In this review, we will introduce existing IABPs, discuss the current platforms that have been developed for the synthesis of IABPs, and highlight future directions as well as challenges in the field.