scholarly journals Advanced mycelium materials as potential self-growing biomedical scaffolds

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Elena Antinori ◽  
Marco Contardi ◽  
Giulia Suarato ◽  
Andrea Armirotti ◽  
Rosalia Bertorelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Engineering Systems ◽  
Edible Fungi ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Fibrous Network ◽  
Body Tissues ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractMycelia, the vegetative part of fungi, are emerging as the avant-garde generation of natural, sustainable, and biodegradable materials for a wide range of applications. They are constituted of a self-growing and interconnected fibrous network of elongated cells, and their chemical and physical properties can be adjusted depending on the conditions of growth and the substrate they are fed upon. So far, only extracts and derivatives from mycelia have been evaluated and tested for biomedical applications. In this study, the entire fibrous structures of mycelia of the edible fungi Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma lucidum are presented as self-growing bio-composites that mimic the extracellular matrix of human body tissues, ideal as tissue engineering bio-scaffolds. To this purpose, the two mycelial strains are inactivated by autoclaving after growth, and their morphology, cell wall chemical composition, and hydrodynamical and mechanical features are studied. Finally, their biocompatibility and direct interaction with primary human dermal fibroblasts are investigated. The findings demonstrate the potentiality of mycelia as all-natural and low-cost bio-scaffolds, alternative to the tissue engineering systems currently in place.

scholarly journals Facile modification of polycaprolactone nanofibers with egg white protein

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nergis Zeynep Renkler ◽  
Emre Ergene ◽  
Seyda Gokyer ◽  
Merve Tuzlakoglu Ozturk ◽  
Pinar Yilgor Huri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Egg White ◽  
Synthetic Polymers ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Homogeneous Distribution ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Engineering Applications ◽  
Egg White Protein ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractSynthetic polymers remain to be a major choice for scaffold fabrication due to their structural stability and mechanical strength. However, the lack of functional moieties limits their application for cell-based therapies which necessitate modification and functionalization. Blending synthetic polymers with natural components is a simple and effective way to achieve the desired biological properties for a scaffold. Herein, nanofibrous mats made of polycaprolactone (PCL) and egg white protein (EWP) blend were developed and further evaluated for use as a scaffold for tissue engineering applications. Homogeneous distribution of EWP was achieved throughout the nanofibrous mats, as shown by immunohistochemistry. ATR-FTIR analysis and contact angle measurements have further confirmed the presence of EWP on the surface of the samples. The swelling test showed that PCL/EWP nanofibers have higher water uptake than PCL nanofibrous mats. Also, EWP addition on the nanofibrous mats resulted in an increase in the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the mats, indicating that the presence of protein can greatly enhance the mechanical properties of the mats. A significantly higher, more uniform, and dispersed cell spreading was observed on days 7 and 14 than that on neat PCL mats, demonstrating the importance of providing the required cues for cell homing by the availability of EWP. Hence, EWP is shown to be a simple and low-cost source for the functionalization of PCL nanofibrous mats. EWP is, therefore, a facile candidate to enhance cellular interactions of synthetic polymers for a wide range of tissue engineering applications.

scholarly journals Increasing salinity of fibrinogen solvent generates stable fibrin hydrogels for cell delivery or tissue engineering

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dillon K. Jarrell ◽  
Ethan J. Vanderslice ◽  
Mallory L. Lennon ◽  
Anne C. Lyons ◽  
Mitchell C. VeDepo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Degradation Rate ◽  
3D Cell Culture ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Cell Delivery ◽  
Fibrin Gels ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractFibrin has been used clinically for wound coverings, surgical glues, and cell delivery because of its affordability, cytocompatibility, and ability to modulate angiogenesis and inflammation. However, its rapid degradation rate has limited its usefulness as a scaffold for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. Previous studies have sought to slow the degradation rate of fibrin with the addition of proteolysis inhibitors or synthetic crosslinkers that require multiple functionalization or polymerization steps. These strategies are difficult to implement in vivo and introduce increased complexity, both of which hinder the use of fibrin in research and medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that the simple inclusion of bifunctionalized poly(ethylene glycol)-n-hydroxysuccinimide (PEG-NHS) in the fibrinogen solvent slows the degradation rate of fibrin by providing additional crosslinking. In this study, we aimed to further improve the longevity of fibrin gels such that they could be used for tissue engineering in vitro or in situ without the need for proteolysis inhibitors. It is well documented that increasing the salinity of fibrin precursor solutions affects the resulting gel morphology. In this study, we investigated whether this altered morphology influences the fibrin degradation rate. Increasing the final sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration from 145 mM (physiologic level) to 250 mM resulted in fine, transparent high-salt (HS) fibrin gels that degrade 2-3 times slower than coarse, opaque physiologic-salt (PS) fibrin gels both in vitro (when treated with proteases and when seeded with amniotic fluid stem cells) and in vivo (when injected subcutaneously into mice). Increased salt concentrations did not affect the viability of encapsulated cells, the ability of encapsulated endothelial cells to form rudimentary capillary networks, or the ability of the gels to maintain induced pluripotent stem cells. Finally, when implanted subcutaneously, PS gels degraded completely within one week while HS gels remained stable and maintained viability of seeded dermal fibroblasts. To our knowledge, this is the simplest method reported for the fabrication of fibrin gels with tunable degradation properties and will be useful for implementing fibrin gels in a wide range of research and clinical applications.

Bacterial Cellulose-Based Metallic Green Nanocomposites for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (45) ◽  
pp. 5866-5880
Author(s):  
Munair Badshah ◽  
Hanif Ullah ◽  
Fazli Wahid ◽  
Taous Khan
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Bacterial Cellulose ◽  
Microbial Control ◽  
Cartilage Regeneration ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Valve Prosthesis ◽  
Pharmaceutical Applications ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Body Tissues ◽  
Wide Range

Background: Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a microbial biosynthesized polymer having exceptional physical and mechanical features as compared to plants derived cellulose. BC has a wide range of applications such as traditional dessert as well as gelling, stabilizing and thickening agent in many foods. The more unconventional applications of BC include but not limited to enzymes immobilization, tissue engineering, artificial blood vessels and heart valve prosthesis, bone and cartilage regeneration, corneal replacement, skin tissues repair and dental root canal treatment. Objective: This review presents the applications of BC expanded by preparing its nanocomposites with drugs, fibres, metals and metallic oxides. These nanocomposites have been studied for applications in drug delivery and biosensors. Methods: The current review focuses on the potential applications of BC-based green metallic and metal-based inorganic nanocomposites as wound dressing material, a tool for microbial control, cardiovascular stenting, and as bone tissue engineering material. In addition, the potential pharmaceutical applications of BC-based green metallic nanocomposites have also been discussed. Results: The reported BC-based nanocomposites owe advantages in terms of stability, environment friendliness and cost-effectiveness, prolonged therapeutic effects and biocompatibility with body tissues, with faster wound healing and negligible cytotoxicity. Conclusion: The current review provides a deep insight into the assessment of such nanocomposites in terms of useful applications and potential commercialization for pharmaceutical as well biomedical purposes.

scholarly journals Increasing salinity of fibrinogen solvent generates stable fibrin hydrogels for cell delivery or tissue engineering

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0239242
Author(s):  
Dillon K. Jarrell ◽  
Ethan J. Vanderslice ◽  
Mallory L. Lennon ◽  
Anne C. Lyons ◽  
Mitchell C. VeDepo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Degradation Rate ◽  
3D Cell Culture ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Cell Delivery ◽  
Fibrin Gels ◽  
Wide Range

Fibrin has been used clinically for wound coverings, surgical glues, and cell delivery because of its affordability, cytocompatibility, and ability to modulate angiogenesis and inflammation. However, its rapid degradation rate has limited its usefulness as a scaffold for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. Previous studies have sought to slow the degradation rate of fibrin with the addition of proteolysis inhibitors or synthetic crosslinkers that require multiple functionalization or polymerization steps. These strategies are difficult to implement in vivo and introduce increased complexity, both of which hinder the use of fibrin in research and medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that additional crosslinking of fibrin gels using bifunctionalized poly(ethylene glycol)-n-hydroxysuccinimide (PEG-NHS) slows the degradation rate of fibrin. In this study, we aimed to further improve the longevity of these PEG-fibrin gels such that they could be used for tissue engineering in vitro or in situ without the need for proteolysis inhibitors. It is well documented that increasing the salinity of fibrin precursor solutions affects the resulting gel morphology. Here, we investigated whether this altered morphology influences the fibrin degradation rate. Increasing the final sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration from 145 mM (physiologic level) to 250 mM resulted in fine, transparent high-salt (HS) fibrin gels that degrade 2–3 times slower than coarse, opaque physiologic-salt (PS) fibrin gels both in vitro (when treated with proteases and when seeded with amniotic fluid stem cells) and in vivo (when injected subcutaneously into mice). Increased salt concentrations did not affect the viability of encapsulated cells, the ability of encapsulated endothelial cells to form rudimentary capillary networks, or the ability of the gels to maintain induced pluripotent stem cells. Finally, when implanted subcutaneously, PS gels degraded completely within one week while HS gels remained stable and maintained viability of seeded dermal fibroblasts. To our knowledge, this is the simplest method reported for the fabrication of fibrin gels with tunable degradation properties and will be useful for implementing fibrin gels in a wide range of research and clinical applications.

Needleless electrospinning of PVP/PGS fibrous scaffolds for skin tissue engineering applications

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Keirouz ◽  
Giuseppino Fortunato ◽  
Anthony Callanan ◽  
Norbert Radacsi
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Tensile Modulus ◽  
Dermal Fibroblasts ◽  
Skin Tissue ◽  
Skin Substitute ◽  
Electrospinning Technique ◽  
Skin Tissue Engineering ◽  
Needleless Electrospinning ◽  
High Concentrations

Scaffolds and implants used for tissue engineering need to be adapted for their mechanical properties with respect to their environment within the human body. Therefore, a novel composite for skin tissue engineering is presented by use of blends of Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) were fabricated via the needleless electrospinning technique. The formed PGS/PVP blends were morphologically, thermochemically and mechanically characterized. The morphology of the developed fibers related to the concentration of PGS, with high concentrations of PGS merging the fibers together plasticizing the scaffold. The tensile modulus appeared to be affected by the concentration of PGS within the blends, with an apparent decrease in the elastic modulus of the electrospun mats and an exponential increase of the elongation at break. Ultraviolet (UV) crosslinking of PGS/PVP significantly decreased and stabilized the wettability of the formed fiber mats, as indicated by contact angle measurements. In vitro examination showed good viability and proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts over the period of a week. The present findings provide important insights for tuning the elastic properties of electrospun material by incorporating this unique elastomer, as a promising future candidate for skin substitute constructs.

Charles Olson and American Modernism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Byers
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Political Action ◽  
The Self ◽  
Instrumental Reason ◽  
Charles Olson ◽  
American Modernism ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
American Poet ◽  
Mark Rothko

The Practice of the Self situates the work of American poet Charles Olson (1910–70) at the centre of the early postwar American avant-garde. It shows Olson to have been one of the major advocates and theorists of American modernism in the late 1940s and early 1950s; a poet who responded fully and variously to the political, ethical, and aesthetic urgencies driving innovation across contemporary American art. Reading Olson’s work alongside that of contemporaries associated with the New York Schools of painting and music (as well as the exiled Frankfurt School), the book draws on Olson’s published and unpublished writings to establish an original account of early postwar American modernism. The development of Olson’s work is seen to illustrate two primary drivers of formal innovation in the period: the evolution of a new model of political action pivoting around the radical individual and, relatedly, a powerful new critique of instrumental reason and the Enlightenment tradition. Drawing on extensive archival research and featuring readings of a wide range of artists—including, prominently, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, David Smith, Wolfgang Paalen, and John Cage—The Practice of the Self offers a new reading of a major American poet and an original account of the emergence of postwar American modernism.

scholarly journals Information and information resources in COVID-19: Awareness, control, and prevention

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110165
Author(s):  
Mohammadhiwa Abdekhoda ◽  
Fatemeh Ranjbaran ◽  
Asghar Sattari
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Data Collection Instrument ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Control

This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the role of information and information resources in the awareness, control, and prevention of COVID-19. This study was a descriptive-analytical survey in which 450 participants were selected for the study. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data through SPSS. The findings show that a wide range of mass media has become well known as information resources for COVID-19. Other findings indicate a significant statistical difference in the rate of using information resources during COVID-19 based on age and gender; however, this difference is not significant regarding the reliability of information resources with regard to age and gender. Health information has an undisputable role in the prevention and control of pandemic diseases such as COVID-19. Providing accurate, reliable, and evidence-based information in a timely manner for the use of resources and information channels related to COVID-19 can be a fast and low-cost strategic approach in confronting this disease.

scholarly journals Rheology and Water Absorption Properties of Alginate–Soy Protein Composites

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1807
Author(s):  
Estefanía Álvarez-Castillo ◽  
José Manuel Aguilar ◽  
Carlos Bengoechea ◽  
María Luisa López-Castejón ◽  
Antonio Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Soy Protein ◽  
Water Solubility ◽  
Divalent Cations ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Soy Protein Isolate ◽  
Protein Isolate ◽  
Guluronic Acid ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Anionic Polysaccharides ◽  
Porous Matrices

Composite materials based on proteins and carbohydrates normally offer improved water solubility, biodegradability, and biocompatibility, which make them attractive for a wide range of applications. Soy protein isolate (SPI) has shown superabsorbent properties that are useful in fields such as agriculture. Alginate salts (ALG) are linear anionic polysaccharides obtained at a low cost from brown algae, displaying a good enough biocompatibility to be considered for medical applications. As alginates are quite hydrophilic, the exchange of ions from guluronic acid present in its molecular structure with divalent cations, particularly Ca2+, may induce its gelation, which would inhibit its solubilization in water. Both biopolymers SPI and ALG were used to produce composites through injection moulding using glycerol (Gly) as a plasticizer. Different biopolymer/plasticizer ratios were employed, and the SPI/ALG ratio within the biopolymer fraction was also varied. Furthermore, composites were immersed in different CaCl2 solutions to inhibit the amount of soluble matter loss and to enhance the mechanical properties of the resulting porous matrices. The main goal of the present work was the development and characterization of green porous matrices with inhibited solubility thanks to the gelation of alginate.

scholarly journals Optically transparent and very thin structure against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) using metal mesh and saltwater for shielding windows

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duy Tung Phan ◽  
Chang Won Jung
Keyword(s):  
Electromagnetic Pulse ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Metal Plate ◽  
Optical Transparency ◽  
Shielding Effectiveness ◽  
Concrete Wall ◽  
Metal Mesh ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Optically Transparent

AbstractAn electromagnetic pulse (EMP) with high energy can damage electronic equipment instantly within a wide range of thousands of kilometers. Generally, a metal plate placed inside a thick concrete wall is used against an EMP, but it is not suitable for an EMP shielding window, which requires not only strong shielding effectiveness (SE) but also optical transparency (OT). In this paper, we propose a very thin and optically transparent structure with excellent SE for EMP shielding window application. The proposed structure consists of a saltwater layer held between two glass substrates and two metal mesh layers on the outside of the glass, with a total thickness of less than 1.5 cm. The SE and OT of the structure are above 80 dB and 45%, respectively, which not only meet the requirement of EMP shielding for military purposes but also retain the procedure of good observation. Moreover, the OT of the structure can be significantly improved using only one metal mesh film (MMF) layer, while the SE is still maintained high to satisfy the required SE for home applicants. With the major advantages of low cost, optical transparency, strong SE, and flexible performance, the proposed structure can be considered a good solution for transparent EMP shielding windows.

scholarly journals Advancements in Assessments of Bio-Tissue Engineering and Viable Cell Delivery Matrices Using Bile Acid-Based Pharmacological Biotechnologies

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1861
Author(s):  
Armin Mooranian ◽  
Melissa Jones ◽  
Corina Mihaela Ionescu ◽  
Daniel Walker ◽  
Susbin Raj Wagle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Viable Cell ◽  
Cell Delivery ◽  
Artificial Organ ◽  
Bioartificial Pancreas ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bioartificial Organs ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
Modern Technologies

The utilisation of bioartificial organs is of significant interest to many due to their versatility in treating a wide range of disorders. Microencapsulation has a potentially significant role in such organs. In order to utilise microcapsules, accurate characterisation and analysis is required to assess their properties and suitability. Bioartificial organs or transplantable microdevices must also account for immunogenic considerations, which will be discussed in detail. One of the most characterized cases is the investigation into a bioartificial pancreas, including using microencapsulation of islets or other cells, and will be the focus subject of this review. Overall, this review will discuss the traditional and modern technologies which are necessary for the characterisation of properties for transplantable microdevices or organs, summarizing analysis of the microcapsule itself, cells and finally a working organ. Furthermore, immunogenic considerations of such organs are another important aspect which is addressed within this review. The various techniques, methodologies, advantages, and disadvantages will all be discussed. Hence, the purpose of this review is providing an updated examination of all processes for the analysis of a working, biocompatible artificial organ.

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