Research News/Talking Point: The role of cells and cellular products in polymer degradation is an important factor in examining the biocompatibility and performance of polymer‐based implants in surgery. Cells release many enzymes and biologically active species into their environment, a fact which makes it difficult to distinguish which released factor is dominant in any cell‐mediated degradation of implanted materials. The various possibilities are discussed and a mechanism involving free radicals proposed.
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Williams et al. (1991) studied this question.
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