scholarly journals A Review on Biomaterials for 3D Conductive Scaffolds for Stimulating and Monitoring Cellular Activities

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Khan ◽  
Edoardo Cantù ◽  
Sarah Tonello ◽  
Mauro Serpelloni ◽  
Nicola Lopomo ◽  
...  

During the last years, scientific research in biotechnology has been reporting a considerable boost forward due to many advances marked in different technological areas. Researchers working in the field of regenerative medicine, mechanobiology and pharmacology have been constantly looking for non-invasive methods able to track tissue development, monitor biological processes and check effectiveness in treatments. The possibility to control cell cultures and quantify their products represents indeed one of the most promising and exciting hurdles. In this perspective, the use of conductive materials able to map cell activity in a three-dimensional environment represents the most interesting approach. The greatest potential of this strategy relies on the possibility to correlate measurable changes in electrical parameters with specific cell cycle events, without affecting their maturation process and considering a physiological-like setting. Up to now, several conductive materials has been identified and validated as possible solutions in scaffold development, but still few works have stressed the possibility to use conductive scaffolds for non-invasive electrical cell monitoring. In this picture, the main objective of this review was to define the state-of-the-art concerning conductive biomaterials to provide researchers with practical guidelines for developing specific applications addressing cell growth and differentiation monitoring. Therefore, a comprehensive review of all the available conductive biomaterials (polymers, carbon-based, and metals) was given in terms of their main electric characteristics and range of applications.

Author(s):  
H.W. Deckman ◽  
B.F. Flannery ◽  
J.H. Dunsmuir ◽  
K.D' Amico

We have developed a new X-ray microscope which produces complete three dimensional images of samples. The microscope operates by performing X-ray tomography with unprecedented resolution. Tomography is a non-invasive imaging technique that creates maps of the internal structure of samples from measurement of the attenuation of penetrating radiation. As conventionally practiced in medical Computed Tomography (CT), radiologists produce maps of bone and tissue structure in several planar sections that reveal features with 1mm resolution and 1% contrast. Microtomography extends the capability of CT in several ways. First, the resolution which approaches one micron, is one thousand times higher than that of the medical CT. Second, our approach acquires and analyses the data in a panoramic imaging format that directly produces three-dimensional maps in a series of contiguous stacked planes. Typical maps available today consist of three hundred planar sections each containing 512x512 pixels. Finally, and perhaps of most import scientifically, microtomography using a synchrotron X-ray source, allows us to generate maps of individual element.


2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (40) ◽  
pp. 1570-1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila Nemes ◽  
Anita Kalapos ◽  
Péter Domsik ◽  
Tamás Forster

Three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography is a new cardiac imaging methodology, which allows three-dimensional non-invasive evaluation of the myocardial mechanics. The aim of this review is to present this new tool emphasizing its diagnostic potentials and demonstrating its limitations, as well. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 1570–1577.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2897-2908
Author(s):  
Mohammed S.Aljohani

Tomography is a non-invasive, non-intrusive imaging technique allowing the visualization of phase dynamics in industrial and biological processes. This article reviews progress in Electrical Capacitance Volume Tomography (ECVT). ECVT is a direct 3D visualizing technique, unlike three-dimensional imaging, which is based on stacking 2D images to obtain an interpolated 3D image. ECVT has recently matured for real time, non-invasive 3-D monitoring of processes involving materials with strong contrast in dielectric permittivity. In this article, ECVT sensor design, optimization and performance of various sensors seen in literature are summarized. Qualitative Analysis of ECVT image reconstruction techniques has also been presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Yeon Lee ◽  
Myoung Hee Kim

: HOX genes belong to the highly conserved homeobox superfamily, responsible for the regulation of various cellular processes that control cell homeostasis, from embryogenesis to carcinogenesis. The abnormal expression of HOX genes is observed in various cancers, including breast cancer; they act as oncogenes or as suppressors of cancer, according to context. In this review, we analyze HOX gene expression patterns in breast cancer and examine their relationship, based on the three-dimensional genome structure of the HOX locus. The presence of non-coding RNAs, embedded within the HOX cluster, and the role of these molecules in breast cancer have been reviewed. We further evaluate the characteristic activity of HOX protein in breast cancer and its therapeutic potential.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Termini ◽  
Enrique Boccardo

In vitro culture of primary or established cell lines is one of the leading techniques in many areas of basic biological research. The use of pure or highly enriched cultures of specific cell types obtained from different tissues and genetics backgrounds has greatly contributed to our current understanding of normal and pathological cellular processes. Cells in culture are easily propagated generating an almost endless source of material for experimentation. Besides, they can be manipulated to achieve gene silencing, gene overexpression and genome editing turning possible the dissection of specific gene functions and signaling pathways. However, monolayer and suspension cultures of cells do not reproduce the cell type diversity, cell-cell contacts, cell-matrix interactions and differentiation pathways typical of the three-dimensional environment of tissues and organs from where they were originated. Therefore, different experimental animal models have been developed and applied to address these and other complex issues in vivo. However, these systems are costly and time consuming. Most importantly the use of animals in scientific research poses moral and ethical concerns facing a steadily increasing opposition from different sectors of the society. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of alternative in vitro experimental models that accurately reproduce the events observed in vivo to reduce the use of animals. Organotypic cultures combine the flexibility of traditional culture systems with the possibility of culturing different cell types in a 3D environment that reproduces both the structure and the physiology of the parental organ. Here we present a summarized description of the use of epithelial organotypic for the study of skin physiology, human papillomavirus biology and associated tumorigenesis.


Heliyon ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. e06645
Author(s):  
Charlotte Theresa Trebing ◽  
Sinan Sen ◽  
Stefan Rues ◽  
Christopher Herpel ◽  
Maria Schöllhorn ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
L Epprecht ◽  
L Qingsong ◽  
N Stenz ◽  
S Hashimi ◽  
T Linder

Abstract Objective Ventilation of the middle ear and mastoid air cells is believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic ear disease. Traditionally, ventilation is assessed by computed tomography. However, this exposes patients to cumulative radiation injury. In cases with a perforation in the tympanic membrane, tympanometry potentially presents a non-invasive alternative to measure the ventilated middle-ear and mastoid air cell volume. This study hypothesised that total tympanometry volume correlates with ventilated middle-ear and mastoid air cell volume. Method Total tympanometry volume was compared with ventilated middle-ear and mastoid air cell volume on computed tomography scans in 20 tympanic membrane perforations. Results There was a high correlation between tympanometry and computed tomography volumes (r = 0.78; p < 0.001). A tympanometry volume more than 2 ml predicted good ventilation on computed tomography. Conclusion These results may help reduce the need for pre-operative computed tomography in uncomplicated cases with tympanic membrane perforations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 8563
Author(s):  
Sangmo Koo

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) based on the femtosecond laser (fs laser) direct writing technique in the realization of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) shapes is spotlighted as a unique and promising processing technique. It is also interesting that TPP can be applied to various applications in not only optics, chemistry, physics, biomedical engineering, and microfluidics but also micro-robotics systems. Effort has been made to design innovative microscale actuators, and research on how to remotely manipulate actuators is also constantly being conducted. Various manipulation methods have been devised including the magnetic, optical, and acoustic control of microscale actuators, demonstrating the great potential for non-contact and non-invasive control. However, research related to the precise control of microscale actuators is still in the early stages, and in-depth research is needed for the efficient control and diversification of a range of applications. In the future, the combination of the fs laser-based fabrication technique for the precise fabrication of microscale actuators/robots and their manipulation can be established as a next-generation processing method by presenting the possibility of applications to various areas.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (60) ◽  
pp. 998-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae Ho Lee ◽  
Hye-Sun Yu ◽  
Gil-Su Lee ◽  
Aeri Ji ◽  
Jung Keun Hyun ◽  
...  

Three-dimensional gel matrices provide specialized microenvironments that mimic native tissues and enable stem cells to grow and differentiate into specific cell types. Here, we show that collagen three-dimensional gel matrices prepared in combination with adhesive proteins, such as fibronectin (FN) and laminin (LN), provide significant cues to the differentiation into neuronal lineage of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from rat bone marrow. When cultured within either a three-dimensional collagen gel alone or one containing either FN or LN, and free of nerve growth factor (NGF), the MSCs showed the development of numerous neurite outgrowths. These were, however, not readily observed in two-dimensional culture without the use of NGF. Immunofluorescence staining, western blot and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analyses demonstrated that a large population of cells was positive for NeuN and glial fibrillary acidic protein, which are specific to neuronal cells, when cultured in the three-dimensional collagen gel. The dependence of the neuronal differentiation of MSCs on the adhesive proteins containing three-dimensional gel matrices is considered to be closely related to focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activation through integrin receptor binding, as revealed by an experiment showing no neuronal outgrowth in the FAK-knockdown cells and stimulation of integrin β1 gene. The results provided herein suggest the potential role of three-dimensional collagen-based gel matrices combined with adhesive proteins in the neuronal differentiation of MSCs, even without the use of chemical differentiation factors. Furthermore, these findings suggest that three-dimensional gel matrices might be useful as nerve-regenerative scaffolds.


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