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Engineering Applications. (engineering + applications)
Kinds of Engineering Applications. Selected AbstractsPolysaccharide-based artificial extracellular matrix: Preparation and characterization of three-dimensional, macroporous chitosan, and heparin composite scaffoldJOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 6 2008Shu-Huei Yu Abstract Scaffold-guided tissue engineering based on synthetic and natural occurring polymers has gained many interests in recent year. In this study, the development of a chitosan-heparin artificial extracellular matrix (AECM) is reported. Three-dimensional, macroporous composite AECMs composed of heparin (Hep) and chitosan (Chito) were prepared by an interpolyelectrolyte complex/lyophilization method. The Chito-Hep composite AECMs were, respectively, crosslinked with glutaraldehyde, as well as cocrosslinked with N,N -(3-dimethylaminopropyl)- N,-ethyl carbodiimide (EDC/NHS) and N -hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The crosslinking reactions were examined by FT-IR analysis. In physiological buffer solution (PBS), the EDC/NHS-crosslinked Chito-Hep composite AECM showed a relative lower water retention ratio than its glutaraldehyde-crosslinked counterparts. The EDC/NHS-crosslinked Chito-Hep composite AECMs showed excellent biocompatibility, according to the results of the in vitro cytotoxic test. This result suggested that the EDC/NHS-crosslinked Chito-Hep composite AECMs might be a potential biomaterial for scaffold-guided tissue engineering applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008 [source] Control of surface free energy in titanium doped phosphate based glasses by co-doping with zincJOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009Ensanya Ali Abou Neel Abstract To significantly improve the biocompatibility of titanium doped phosphate based glasses, codoping with zinc has been attempted. This study investigated the effect of doping a quaternary 15Na2O:30CaO:5TiO2:50P2O5 glass with zinc oxide (1, 3, and 5 mol %) on bulk, structural, surface, and biological properties; the results were compared with glasses free from ZnO and/or TiO2. ZnO as adjunct to TiO2 was effective in changing density, interchain bond forces, degradation behavior, and ions released from the degrading glasses. Incorporation of both TiO2 and ZnO in T5Z1, T5Z3, and T5Z5 glasses reduced the level of Zn2+ release by two to three orders of magnitude compared with glasses containing ZnO only (Z5). 31P NMR results for T5Z1, T5Z3, and T5Z5 glasses showed the presence of Q3 species suggesting that the TiO2 is acting as a network former, and the phosphate network becomes slightly more connected with increasing ZnO incorporation. Regardless of their relative lower hydrophilicity and surface reactivity compared with the control glass free from TiO2 and ZnO (T0Z0), these glasses have significantly higher surface reactivity compared with Thermanox®. This has been also reflected in the maintenance of >98% viable Osteoblasts, proliferation rate, and expression level of osteoblastic marker genes in a comparable manner to Thermanox® and T5 glasses, particularly T5Z1 and T5Z3 glasses. However, T0Z0 and Z5 glasses showed significantly reduced viability compared to Thermanox®. Therefore, it can be concluded that ZnO doped titanium phosphate glasses, T5Z1 and T5Z3 in particular, can be promising substrates for bone tissue engineering applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2009 [source] Bioactive and mechanically strong Bioglass®-poly(D,L -lactic acid) composite coatings on surgical suturesJOURNAL OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS RESEARCH, Issue 2 2006Q. Z. Chen Abstract New coating processes have been investigated for degradable (Vicryl®) and nondegradable (Mersilk®) sutures with the aim to develop Bioglass® coated polymer fibers for wound healing and tissue engineering scaffold applications. First, the aqueous phase of a Bioglass® particle slurry was replaced with a poly(D,L -lactic acid) (PDLLA) polymer dissolved in solvent dimethyle carbonate (DMC) to act as third phase. SEM observations indicated that this alteration significantly improved the homogeneity of the coatings. Second, a new coating strategy involving two steps was developed: the sutures were first coated with a Bioglass®,PDLLA composite film followed by a second PDLLA coating. This two-step process of coating has addressed the problem of poor adherence of Bioglass® particles on suture surfaces. The coated sutures were knotted to determine qualitatively the mechanical integrity of the coatings. The results indicated that adhesion strength of coatings obtained by the two-step method was remarkably enhanced. A comparative assessment of the bioactivity of one-step and two-step produced coatings was carried out in vitro using acellular simulated body fluid (SBF) for up to 28 days. Coatings produced by the two-step process were found to have similar bioactivity as the one-step produced coatings. The novel Bioglass®/PDLLA/Vicryl® and Bioglass®/PDLLA/Mersilk® composite sutures are promising bioactive materials for wound healing and tissue engineering applications. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2006 [source] Immunophenotypic analysis of human articular chondrocytes: Changes in surface markers associated with cell expansion in monolayer cultureJOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Jose Diaz-Romero Cartilage tissue engineering relies on in vitro expansion of primary chondrocytes. Monolayer is the chosen culture model for chondrocyte expansion because in this system the proliferative capacity of chondrocytes is substantially higher compared to non-adherent systems. However, human articular chondrocytes (HACs) cultured as monolayers undergo changes in phenotype and gene expression known as "dedifferentiation." To gain a better understanding of the cellular mechanisms involved in the dedifferentiation process, our research focused on the characterization of the surface molecule phenotype of HACs in monolayer culture. Adult HACs were isolated by enzymatic digestion of cartilage samples obtained post-mortem. HACs cultured in monolayer for different time periods were analyzed by flow cytometry for the expression of cell surface markers with a panel of 52 antibodies. Our results show that HACs express surface molecules belonging to different categories: integrins and other adhesion molecules (CD49a, CD49b, CD49c, CD49e, CD49f, CD51/61, CD54, CD106, CD166, CD58, CD44), tetraspanins (CD9, CD63, CD81, CD82, CD151), receptors (CD105, CD119, CD130, CD140a, CD221, CD95, CD120a, CD71, CD14), ectoenzymes (CD10, CD26), and other surface molecules (CD90, CD99). Moreover, differential expression of certain markers in monolayer culture was identified. Up-regulation of markers on HACs regarded as distinctive for mesenchymal stem cells (CD10, CD90, CD105, CD166) during monolayer culture suggested that dedifferentiation leads to reversion to a primitive phenotype. This study contributes to the definition of HAC phenotype, and provides new potential markers to characterize chondrocyte differentiation stage in the context of tissue engineering applications. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Microenvironment regulation of PRG4 phenotype of chondrocytesJOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 5 2007Megan E. Blewis Abstract Articular cartilage is a heterogeneous tissue with superficial (S), middle (M), and deep (D) zones. Chondrocytes in the S zone secrete the lubricating PRG4 protein, while chondrocytes from the M and D zones are more specialized in producing large amounts of the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) component of the extracellular matrix. Soluble and insoluble chemicals and mechanical stimuli regulate cartilage development, growth, and homeostasis; however, the mechanisms of regulation responsible for the distinct PRG4-positive and negative phenotypes of chondrocytes are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine if interaction between S and M chondrocytes regulates chondrocyte phenotype, as determined by coculture in monolayer at different ratios of S:M (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, 0:100) and at different densities (240,000, 120,000, 60,000, and 30,000 cells/cm2), and by measurement of PRG4 secretion and expression, and GAG accumulation. Coculture of S and M cells resulted in significant up-regulation in PRG4 secretion and the percentage of cells expressing PRG4, with simultaneous down-regulation of GAG accumulation. Tracking M cells with PKH67 dye in coculture revealed that they maintained a PRG4-negative phenotype, and proliferated less than S cells. Taken together, these results indicate that the up-regulated PRG4 expression in coculture is a result of preferential proliferation of PRG4-expressing S cells. This finding may have practical implications for generating a large number of phenotypically normal S cells, which can be limited in source, for tissue engineering applications. © 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 25:685,695, 2007 [source] Aliphatic poly(ester-carbonate)s bearing amino groups and its RGD peptide graftingJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 21 2008Xiuli Hu Abstract This article deals with (1) synthesis of novel cyclic carbonate monomer (2-oxo [1,3]dioxan-5-yl)carbamic acid benzyl ester (CAB) containing protected amino groups; (2) ring-opening copolymerization of the cyclic monomer with L -lactide (LA) to provide novel degradable poly(ester-carbonate)s with functional groups; (3) removal of the protective benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz) groups by catalytic hydrogenation to afford the corresponding poly(ester- co -carbonate)s with free amino groups; (4) grafting of oligopeptide Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser-Tyr (GRGDSY, abbreviated as RGD) onto the copolymer pendant amino groups in the presence of 1,1,-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI). The structures of P(LA- co -CA/RGD) and its precursor were confirmed by 1H NMR analysis. Cell experiments showed that P(LA- co -CA/RGD) had improved adhesion and proliferation behavior. Therefore, the novel RGD-grafted block copolymer is promising for cell or tissue engineering applications. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 7022,7032, 2008 [source] |