ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering

Tissue engineering primarily aimed to alleviate the insufficiency of organ donations worldwide. Nonetheless, the survival of the engineered tissue is often compromised due to the complexity of the natural organ architectures, especially the vascular system inside the organ, which allows food-waste transfer. Thus, vascularization within the engineered tissue is of paramount importance. A critical aspect of this endeavor is the ability to replicate the intricacies of the extracellular matrix and promote the formation of functional vascular networks within engineered constructs...

Calcified cartilage digested by chondroclasts provides an excellent scaffold to initiate bone formation. We analyzed bioactive proteins and microarchitecture of calcified cartilage either separately or in combination and evaluated biomimetic osteogenic culture conditions of surface-coated micropatterning. To do so, we prepared a crude extract from porcine femoral growth plates, which enhanced in vitro mineralization when coated on flat-bottom culture dishes, and identified four candidate proteins by fractionation and mass spectrometry...

In recent years, nanomaterials have gained widespread use in the biomedical field, with ZIF-8 and ZnO emerging as promising candidates due to their remarkable performance in osteogenesis, angiogenesis, and antimicrobial therapy. However, before advancing these nanomaterials for clinical applications, it is imperative to evaluate their biocompatibility. In particular, comparing nanomaterials with similar biomedical functions is crucial for identifying the most suitable nanomaterials for further development and market entry...

Osteoarthritis is characterized by enzymatic breakdown of the articular cartilage via the disruption of chondrocyte homeostasis, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the articular surface. Decades of research have highlighted the importance of inflammation in osteoarthritis progression, with inflammatory cytokines shifting resident chondrocytes into a pro-catabolic state. Inflammation can result in poor outcomes for cells implanted for cartilage regeneration. Therefore, a method to promote the growth of new cartilage and protect the implanted cells from the pro-inflammatory cytokines found in the joint space is required...

Amidst the present healthcare issues, diabetes is unique as an emerging class of affliction with chronicity in a majority of the population. To check and control its effects, there have been huge turnover and constant development of management strategies, and though a bigger part of the health care area is involved in achieving its control and the related issues such as the effect of diabetes on wound healing and care and many of the works have reached certain successful outcomes, still there is a huge lack in managing it, with maximum effect yet to be attained...

Cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo) alloys are common wear-exposed biomedical alloys and are manufactured in multiple ways, increasingly using additive manufacturing processes such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Here, we investigate the effect of proteins and the manufacturing process (wrought vs LPBF) and building orientation (LPBF- XY and XZ ) on the corrosion, metal release, tribocorrosion, and surface oxide composition by means of electrochemical, mechanical, microscopic, diffractive, and spectroscopic methods...

Ti-Au intermetallic-based material systems are being extensively studied as next-generation thin film coatings to extend the lifetime of implant devices. These coatings are being developed for application to the articulating surfaces of total joint implants and, therefore, must have excellent biocompatibility combined with superior mechanical hardness and wear resistance. However, these key characteristics of Ti-Au coatings are heavily dependent upon factors such as the surface properties and temperature of the underlying substrate during thin film deposition...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes great health hazards to society because most antibiotics are ineffective. Photodynamic treatment (PDT) has been proposed to combat MRSA due to the advantage of imaging-guided no-drug resistance therapy. However, the traditional photosensitizers for PDT are limited by aggregation-caused quenching for imaging and low photodynamic antibacterial efficiency. In this work, we synthesize a new aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizer (APNO), which can ultrafast distinguish between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria within 3 s by AIE-active photosensitizer imaging...

The production of small-diameter artificial vascular grafts continues to encounter numerous challenges, with concerns regarding the degradation rate and endothelialization being particularly critical. In this study, porous PCL scaffolds were prepared, and PCL vascular grafts were fabricated by 3D bioprinting of collagen materials containing adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) on the internal wall of the porous PCL scaffold. The PCL vascular grafts were then implanted in the abdominal aorta of Rhesus monkeys for up to 640 days to analyze the degradation of the scaffolds and regeneration of the aorta...

Oral immunization is a promising strategy for preventing and treating gastrointestinal (GI) infections and diseases, as it allows for direct access to the disease site. To elicit immune responses within the GI tract, however, there are many obstacles that oral vaccines must surmount, including proteolytic degradation and thick mucus barriers. Here, we employed a modular self-assembling peptide nanofiber platform to facilitate oral immunization against both peptide and small molecule epitopes. Synthesizing nanofibers with d-amino acids rendered them resistant to proteases in vitro, whereas l-amino acid nanofibers were rapidly degraded...

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks expressed protein targets, making therapy development challenging. Hydrogels offer a promising new route in this regard by improving the chemotherapeutic efficacy through increased solubility and sustained release. Moreover, subcutaneous hydrogel administration reduces patient burden by requiring less therapy and shorter treatment times. We recently established the design principles for the supramolecular assembly of single-domain coiled-coils into hydrogels. Using a modified computational design algorithm, we designed Q8, a hydrogel with rapid assembly for faster therapeutic hydrogel preparation...

Tissue engineering involves implanting grafts into damaged tissue sites to guide and stimulate the formation of new tissue, which is an important strategy in the field of tissue defect treatment. Scaffolds prepared in vitro meet this requirement and are able to provide a biochemical microenvironment for cell growth, adhesion, and tissue formation. Scaffolds made of piezoelectric materials can apply electrical stimulation to the tissue without an external power source, speeding up the tissue repair process. Among piezoelectric polymers, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers have the largest piezoelectric coefficients and are widely used in biomedical fields, including implanted sensors, drug delivery, and tissue repair...

In this study, we propose a spatially patterned 3D-printed nanohydroxyapatite (nHA)/beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP)/collagen composite scaffold incorporating human dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hDP-MSCs) for bone regeneration in critical-sized defects. We investigated angiogenesis and osteogenesis in a rabbit critical-sized mandibular defect model treated with this engineered construct. The critical and synergistic role of collagen coating and incorporation of stem cells in the regeneration process was confirmed by including a cell-free uncoated 3D-printed nHA/β-TCP scaffold, a stem cell-loaded 3D-printed nHA/β-TCP scaffold, and a cell-free collagen-coated 3D-printed nHA/β-TCP scaffold in the experimental design, in addition to an empty defect...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Intratumoral injection of anticancer agents has limited efficacy and is not routinely used for most cancers. In this study, we aimed to improve the efficacy of intratumoral chemotherapy using a novel approach comprising peri-tumoral injection of sustained-release liposomal nanoparticles containing phenylephrine, which is a potent vasoconstrictor. Using a preclinical model of melanoma, we have previously shown that systemically administered (intravenous) phenylephrine could transiently shunt blood flow to the tumor at the time of drug delivery, which in turn improved antitumor responses...

Hydrogels have gained significant popularity as model platforms to study reciprocal interactions between cells and their microenvironment. While hydrogel tools to probe many characteristics of the extracellular space have been developed, fabrication approaches remain challenging and time-consuming, limiting multiplexing or widespread adoption. Thus, we have developed a modular fabrication approach to generate distinct hydrogel microenvironments within the same 96-well plate for increased throughput of fabrication as well as integration with existing high-throughput assay technologies...

Nanosized mesoporous silica has emerged as a promising flexible platform delivering siRNA for cancer treatment. This ordered mesoporous nanosized silica provides attractive features of well-defined and tunable porosity, structure, high payload, and multiple functionalizations for targeted delivery and increasing biocompatibility over other polymeric nanocarriers. Moreover, it also overcomes the lacunae associated with traditional administration of drugs. Chemically modified porous silica matrix efficiently entraps siRNA molecules and prevents their enzymatic degradation and premature release...

The application of bioengineering techniques for achieving bone regeneration in the oral environment is an increasingly prominent field. However, the clinical use of synthetic materials carries certain risks. The liquid phase of concentrated growth factor (LPCGF), as a biologically derived material, exhibits superior biocompatibility. In this study, LPCGF was employed as a tissue engineering scaffold, hosting dental follicle cells (DFCs) to facilitate bone regeneration. Both in vivo and in vitro experimental results demonstrate that this platform significantly enhances the expression of osteogenic markers in DFCs, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), and type I collagen (Col1a1)...

Microbubbles (MBs) hold substantial promise for medical imaging and therapy; nonetheless, knowledge gaps persist between composition, structure, and in vivo performance, especially with respect to pharmacokinetics. Of particular interest is the role of the poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) layer, which is thought to shield the MB against opsonization and rapid clearance but is also known to cause an antibody response upon multiple injections. The goal of this study was, therefore, to elucidate the role of the PEG layer in circulation persistence of MBs in the naïve animal (prior to an adaptive immune response)...

Flexible electronics, applicable to enlarged health, AI big data medications, etc., have been one of the most important technologies of this century. Due to its particular mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, cocoon silk (or SF, silk fibroin) plays a key role in flexible electronics/photonics. The review begins with an examination of the hierarchical meso network structures of SF materials and introduces the concepts of meso reconstruction, meso doping, and meso hybridization based on the correlation between the structure and performance of silk materials...