Biomaterials and Scaffolds in Tissue Engineering Applications and Cancer Therapies

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2017) | Viewed by 31123

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Millions of people suffer from tissue/organ injuries, such as peripheral nerve injuries and heart attacks. Tissue/organ transplantation is the gold standard to treat some of these types of injuries, but is severely restricted as an option due to the limited availability of donor tissues/organs. Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging field that aims to produce tissue/organ substitutes or scaffolds that are made from biomaterials, ultimately providing a permanent solution and thus improving upon current treatment approaches. Considerable and encouraging progress has been making in the development of biomaterials and scaffolds in various TE applications, as well as in cancer therapies by targeting cancer stem cells. This Special Issue aims at providing a platform to survey and report the recent development and advance in this field, which may include, but is not limited to, biomaterials, design and fabrication of scaffolds, 3D printing, modeling scaffolds, characterization of biomaterials and/or scaffolds in vitro and/or in vivo, scaffold-based strategies for TE applications, and/or scaffold-based strategies for cancer therapies.

Prof. Daniel X.B. Chen
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomaterials

  • cancer therapy

  • cell growth

  • characterization

  • design

  • fabrication

  • in vitro; in vivo

  • modeling

  • stem cells

  • tissue engineering

  • tissue regeneration

  • tissue scaffolds

  • 3D printing

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

3286 KiB  
Article
Influence of Hard Segments on the Thermal, Phase-Separated Morphology, Mechanical, and Biological Properties of Polycarbonate Urethanes
by Rong Zhu, Xinyu Wang, Jing Yang, Yiyu Wang, Zongrui Zhang, Yuanjing Hou, Fei Lin and Yi Li
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(3), 306; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7030306 - 20 Mar 2017
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 7009
Abstract
Abstract: In this study, we have fabricated a series of polycarbonate polyurethanes using a two-step bulk reaction by the melting pre-polymer solution-casting method in order to synthesize biomedical polyurethane elastomers with good mechanical behavior and biostability. The polyurethanes were prepared using dibutyltin dilaurate [...] Read more.
Abstract: In this study, we have fabricated a series of polycarbonate polyurethanes using a two-step bulk reaction by the melting pre-polymer solution-casting method in order to synthesize biomedical polyurethane elastomers with good mechanical behavior and biostability. The polyurethanes were prepared using dibutyltin dilaurate as the catalyst, poly(1,6-hexanediol)carbonate microdiols (PCDL) as the soft segment, and the chain extender 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and aliphatic 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) as the hard segments. The chemical structures and physical properties of the obtained films were characterized by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and mechanical property tests. The surface properties and degrees of microphase separation were further analyzed by water droplet contact angle measurements (CA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The materials exhibited a moderate toxic effect on the tetrazolium (MTT) assay and good hemocompatibility through hemolytic tests, indicating a good biocompatibility of the fabricated membranes. The materials could be considered as potential and beneficial suitable materials for tissue engineering, especially in the fields of artificial blood-contacting implants or other biomedical applications. Full article
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1545 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Injectable Alginate Hydrogels with Muscle-Derived Stem Cells for Potential Myocardial Infarction Repair
by Rui Fang, Weiming Tian and Xiongbiao Chen
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(3), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7030252 - 04 Mar 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6613
Abstract
Myocardial infarction (MI), caused by the occlusion of the left ventricular coronary artery, leads to the loss of cardiomyocytes and, potentially, heart failure. Cardiomyocytes in adult mammals proliferate at an extremely low rate and thus, a major challenge in MI treatment is supplementing [...] Read more.
Myocardial infarction (MI), caused by the occlusion of the left ventricular coronary artery, leads to the loss of cardiomyocytes and, potentially, heart failure. Cardiomyocytes in adult mammals proliferate at an extremely low rate and thus, a major challenge in MI treatment is supplementing exogenous cells and keeping them viable in MI areas. To address this challenge, injecting hydrogels encapsulating cells into MI areas, to compensate for the loss of cardiomyocytes, shows promise. This study synthesized two types of alginate hydrogels, based on self-crosslinking (SCL) and calcium ion crosslinking (Ca2+) in varying formulations. The hydrogels encapsulated living muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) and their performance was evaluated in terms of optimizing cell viability during the injection process, as well as the live/dead rate after long-term cultivation. The morphology of the hydrogel-encapsulated cells was characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and live/dead cells were examined using an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide staining) assay. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels were also determined via a rheometer, to identify their influence on cell viability during the injection process and with respect to long-term cultivation. The SCL hydrogel with a 0.8% alginate and 20% gelatin formulation resulted in the highest cell viability during the injection process, and the Ca2+ hydrogel composed of 1.1% alginate and 20% gelatin maintained the highest cell survival rate after two months in culture. Full article
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2246 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Radiation Therapy of Gold Nanoparticles in Liver Cancer
by Meili Guo, Yuanming Sun and Xiao-Dong Zhang
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(3), 232; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7030232 - 01 Mar 2017
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6814
Abstract
Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were widely used in X-ray imaging and radiation therapy due to strong photoelectric effects and secondary electrons under high energy irradiation. As liver cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, the use of GNPs could enhance liver [...] Read more.
Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) were widely used in X-ray imaging and radiation therapy due to strong photoelectric effects and secondary electrons under high energy irradiation. As liver cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, the use of GNPs could enhance liver cancer radiotherapy. We synthesized polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated GNPs of two different sizes by chemical reduction reaction. Blood stability, cellular uptake, cytotoxicity and radiation therapy were investigated. A 3–5 nm red shift of SPR caused by interactions between PEG-coated GNPs and plasma indicated their good stability. Cellular uptake assay showed that PEG-coated GNPs would enhance an appreciable uptake. GNPs preferred to combine with blood proteins, and thus induced the formation of 30–50 nm Au-protein corona. GNPs were endocytosed by cytoplasmic vesicles, localized in intracellular region, and presented concentration dependent cell viability. Clonogenic assay illustrated that the PEG-coated GNPs could sensitize two liver cancer cell lines to irradiation. Full article
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6765 KiB  
Article
Aligned Nanofiber Topography Directs the Tenogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells
by Tracee L. Popielarczyk, Amrinder S. Nain and Jennifer G. Barrett
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(1), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7010059 - 06 Jan 2017
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5076
Abstract
Tendon is commonly injured, heals slowly and poorly, and often suffers re-injury after healing. This is due to failure of tenocytes to effectively remodel tendon after injury to recapitulate normal architecture, resulting in poor mechanical properties. One strategy for improving the outcome is [...] Read more.
Tendon is commonly injured, heals slowly and poorly, and often suffers re-injury after healing. This is due to failure of tenocytes to effectively remodel tendon after injury to recapitulate normal architecture, resulting in poor mechanical properties. One strategy for improving the outcome is to use nanofiber scaffolds and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to regenerate tendon. Various scaffold parameters are known to influence tenogenesis. We designed suspended and aligned nanofiber scaffolds with the hypothesis that this would promote tenogenesis when seeded with MSCs. Our aligned nanofibers were manufactured using the previously reported non-electrospinning Spinneret-based Tunable Engineered Parameters (STEP) technique. We compared parallel versus perpendicular nanofiber scaffolds with traditional flat monolayers and used cellular morphology, tendon marker gene expression, and collagen and glycosaminoglycan deposition as determinants for tendon differentiation. We report that compared with traditional control monolayers, MSCs grown on nanofibers were morphologically elongated with higher gene expression of tendon marker scleraxis and collagen type I, along with increased production of extracellular matrix components collagen (p = 0.0293) and glycosaminoglycan (p = 0.0038). Further study of MSCs in different topographical environments is needed to elucidate the complex molecular mechanisms involved in stem cell differentiation. Full article
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8465 KiB  
Article
Tunable Degradation Rate and Favorable Bioactivity of Porous Calcium Sulfate Scaffolds by Introducing Nano-Hydroxyapatite
by Jianhua Zhou, Fulai Yuan, Shuping Peng, Hui Xie, Ping Wu, Pei Feng, Chengde Gao, Youwen Yang, Wang Guo, Duan Lai, Zhiyang Zhou, Xueling Zhu and Cijun Shuai
Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(12), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6120411 - 07 Dec 2016
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4923
Abstract
The bone scaffolds should possess suitable physicochemical properties and osteogenic activities. In this study, porous calcium sulfate (CaSO4) scaffolds were fabricated successfully via selected laser sintering (SLS). Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp), a bioactive material with a low degradation rate, was introduced into CaSO [...] Read more.
The bone scaffolds should possess suitable physicochemical properties and osteogenic activities. In this study, porous calcium sulfate (CaSO4) scaffolds were fabricated successfully via selected laser sintering (SLS). Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp), a bioactive material with a low degradation rate, was introduced into CaSO4 scaffolds to overcome the overquick absorption. The results demonstrated that nHAp could not only control the degradation rate of scaffolds by adjusting their content, but also improve the pH environment by alleviating the acidification progress during the degradation of CaSO4 scaffolds. Moreover, the improved scaffolds were covered completely with the apatite spherulites in simulated body fluid (SBF), showing their favorable bioactivity. In addition, the compression strength and fracture toughness were distinctly enhanced, which could be ascribed to large specific area of nHAp and the corresponding stress transfer. Full article
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