In Vivo Biological Behavior of Polymer Scaffolds of Natural Origin in the Bone Repair Process

Autologous bone grafts, used mainly in extensive bone loss, are considered the gold standard treatment in regenerative medicine, but still have limitations mainly in relation to the amount of bone available, donor area, morbidity and creation of additional surgical area. This fact encourages tissue engineering in relation to the need to develop new biomaterials, from sources other than the individual himself. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of an elastin and collagen matrix on the bone repair process in critical size defects in rat calvaria. The animals (Wistar rats, n = 30) were submitted to a surgical procedure to create the bone defect and were divided into three groups: Control Group (CG, n = 10), defects filled with blood clot; E24/37 Group (E24/37, n = 10), defects filled with bovine elastin matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 37 °C and C24/25 Group (C24/25, n = 10), defects filled with porcine collagen matrix hydrolyzed for 24 h at 25 °C. Macroscopic and radiographic analyses demonstrated the absence of inflammatory signs and infection. Microtomographical 2D and 3D images showed centripetal bone growth and restricted margins of the bone defect. Histologically, the images confirmed the pattern of bone deposition at the margins of the remaining bone and without complete closure by bone tissue. In the morphometric analysis, the groups E24/37 and C24/25 (13.68 ± 1.44; 53.20 ± 4.47, respectively) showed statistically significant differences in relation to the CG (5.86 ± 2.87). It was concluded that the matrices used as scaffolds are biocompatible and increase the formation of new bone in a critical size defect, with greater formation in the polymer derived from the intestinal serous layer of porcine origin (C24/25).     

Age related changes in the thermal transition of Turkey leg flexor tendon collagen

A differential scanning calorimetric, thermogravimetric and electron microscopic investigation has been carried out on the uncalcified areas of turkey leg flexor tendon as a function of age. Rehydrated samples exhibit an increase of thermal stability with age. The H_D values drop from about 11 cal·g^–1 in the first weeks of life down to 7 cal·g^–1 after the 11th week.At about 11 weeks, the collagen fibril diameter distribution passes from unimodal to multimodal. The DSC curves as well as the TG-DTG curves recorded from dried samples do not show any appreciable difference with ageing. The variations in thermal behaviour of rehydrated samples and fibril diameter distribution could be related to modifications in water binding with ageing.The Authors are grateful to Dr. G. Fabris for discussion and help in the selection of the samples. They also wish to thank Mr. G. Pizzuto for excellent technical assistance. The financial support by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche is gratefully acknowledged.     

胶原纤维固化黑荆树单宁吸附V(V)的研究

研究了胶原纤维固化黑荆树单宁对V(V)的吸附。采用不同温度、pH值等条件进行吸附研究,并进一步探讨了固化黑荆树单宁的吸附动力学和吸附柱动力学及其吸附机理。结果表明,该材料对V(V)的吸附平衡符合Freund lich方程,温度对吸附平衡的影响不明显;吸附动力学可用拟二级速度方程来描述,该材料同时具有良好的柱动力学特性;V(V)的吸附过程可能存在三个反应,即V(V)与吸附剂之间发生氧化还原反应生成V(IV),V(IV)和-COOH之间发生离子交换反应,以及V(IV)与单宁的邻位羟基发生螯合。     

Quantitative measurement of collagen methylation by capillary electrophoresis

Collagen methylation has been exploited in various applications involving living cells. We have observed correlation between the collagen methylation with the rate of cell proliferation in three-dimensional (3-D) microenvironment. To quantify the degree of collagen methylation, we have developed a capillary zone electrophoresis method. Using a polyvinyl alcohol-coated fused-silica capillary and UV detection at 200 nm, we have optimized pH and separated the native collagen into three major bands in phosphate buffer (50 mM, pH 2.5) with 0.05% hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. Under these conditions, the methylated collagens were separated into four major bands, which changed with different methylation reaction conditions. We propose an index to quantify the degree of collagen methylation that also correlates with their effects on cell proliferation.     

批量离子交换层析和凝胶过滤层析在类人胶原蛋白I纯化中的应用

研究了利用批量离子交换层析与凝胶过滤层析相结合的方法纯化类人胶原蛋白I的最佳条件。分别考察了不同离子交换树脂、缓冲溶液pH、离子强度、进料蛋白浓度对批量离子交换的影响,以及不同凝胶过滤介质对凝胶过滤层析的影响。结果表明,采用阴离子交换树脂DEAE52吸附杂蛋白,缓冲液pH为7.0,NaCl浓度为0.2mol/L,进料蛋白浓度为40mg/mL,并采用凝胶过滤介质SephadexG-100进一步纯化后,类人胶原蛋白I的纯度可达到98.2%,总纯化倍数为3.1,总回收率为80.6%。SDS-PAGE分子量分析和N末端氨基酸序列分析均表明纯化后的类人胶原蛋白I与基因设计一致。     

Cross-linking epoxide resins with hydrolysates of chrome-tanned leather waste

Differential scanning calorimetry was employed to investigate the reaction of diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol A (DGEBA) of mean molecular mass 348–480 Da, with collagen hydrolysate of chrome-tanned leather waste in a solvent-free environment. The reaction leads to biodegradable polymers that might facilitate recycling of plastic parts in products of the automotive and/or aeronautics industry provided with protective films on this basis. The reaction proceeds in a temperature interval of 205–220°C, at temperatures approx. 30–40°C below temperature of thermal degradation of collagen hydrolysate. The found value of reaction enthalpy, 519.19 J g⁻¹ (= 101.24 kJ mol⁻¹ of epoxide groups) corresponds with currently found enthalpy values of the reaction of oxirane ring with amino groups. Reaction heat depends on the composition of reaction mixture (or on mass fraction of diglycidyl ethers in the reaction mixture); proving the dependence of kinetic parameters of the reaction (Arrhenius pre-exponential factor A (min⁻¹) and activation energy E _a (kJ mol⁻¹)) did not succeed. Obtained values of kinetic parameters are on a level corresponding to the assumption that reaction kinetics is determined by diffusion.     

Bioprinting of Collagen: Considerations,Potentials, and Applications

Collagen is the most abundant extracellular matrix protein that is widely used in tissue engineering (TE). There is little research done on printing pure collagen. To understand the bottlenecks in printing pure collagen, it is imperative to understand collagen from a bottom‐up approach. Here it is aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of collagen printing, where collagen assembly in vivo and the various sources of collagen available for TE application are first understood. Next, the current printing technologies and strategy for printing collagen‐based materials are highlighted. Considerations and key challenges faced in collagen printing are identified. Finally, the key research areas that would enhance the functionality of printed collagen are presented.     

Ultralong Hydroxyapatite Nanowire/Collagen Biopaper with High Flexibility,Improved Mechanical Properties and Excellent Cellular Attachment

Highly flexible hydroxyapatite/collagen (HAP/Col) composite membranes are regarded to be significant for guided bone regeneration application owing to their similar chemical composition to that of natural bone, excellent bioactivity and good osteoconductivity. However, the mechanical strength of the HAP/Col composite membranes is usually weak, which leads to difficult surgical operations and low mechanical stability during the bone healing process. Herein, highly flexible ultralong hydroxyapatite nanowires/collagen (UHANWs/Col) composite biopaper sheets with weight fractions of UHANWs ranging from 0 to 100 % are facilely synthesized. The UHANWs are able to weave with each other to construct a three‐dimensional fabric structure in the collagen matrix, providing a strong interaction between UHANWs and an intermolecular force between UHANWs and the collagen matrix. The as‐prepared UHANWs/Col composite biopaper exhibits improved mechanical properties and high flexibility. More importantly, the as‐prepared highly flexible 70 wt % UHANWs/Col composite biopaper exhibits an excellent cytocompatibility and outstanding cellular attachment performance as compared with the pure collagen and 70 wt % HAP nanorods/Col membranes. In consideration of its superior mechanical properties and outstanding cellular attachment performance, the as‐prepared UHANWs/Col composite biopaper is promising for applications in various biomedical fields such as guided bone regeneration.     

Antibacterial and Miscibility Properties of Chitosan/Collagen Blends

The miscibility, bioactivity, and antibacterial properties of chitosan/collagen specimens were systematically studied. The specimens were prepared by blending collagen and chitosan with varying deacetylation degrees in solutions; the collagen molecules had been extracted from pigskins using the acid swelling-pepsin digestion method. To understand the miscibility properties of collagen and chitosan molecules, the intrinsic viscosity and differential scanning calorimetry analysis of collagen, chitosan, and collagen/chitosan specimens were performed. The instrinsic viscosity measurements suggested that chitosan and collagen molecules with varying deacetylation degrees were miscible at molecular level for all compositions and degrees of deacetylation of chitosan/collagen mixture solutions prepared in this study. Fourier transform infrared analyses suggested that the percentage of preserved triple helix structures present in collagen molecules in collagen/chitosan specimens decreased with increasing chitosan contents, since the ratios of peak absorbance at 1239 cm^?1 of amide III and 1455 cm^?1 of C?H bending of collagen/chitosan specimens decreased significantly with increase in their chitosan contents. Abnormally high denaturation temperatures (T_d) were observed as the chitosan contents of collagen/chitosan specimens reached 40 wt%, at which T_d of collagen molecules was even higher than that of the corresponding pure chitosan molecules with varying deacetylation degrees. The antibacterial activity of collagen/chitosan blends increased consistently with increasing deacetylation degrees and concentrations of chitosan molecules in collagen/chitosan solutions. Possible explanations for these interesting thermal denaturation, antibacterial, and miscibility properties of chitosan/collagen specimens are reported.     

Study on Biological Safety of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Collagen Hydrogel as a Tissue Substitute (II)

Physically crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol/collagen composite hydrogels were prepared by a cyclic freezing-drying technique. The biological properties of the hydrogels, including hemolysis, anaphylaxis, pyrogen and acute systemic toxicity tests and implantation in-vivo, were investigated. The hemolysis test suggested that the polyvinyl alcohol/collagen, with a hemolysis index of 1.19%, did not have an obvious hemolysis reaction. There was no toxicosis or death cases observed in the acute systemic toxicity test, and the hydrogel showed no anaphylaxis or pyrogen response. The composite hydrogel showed a good histological compatibility in the in-vivo study. The results indicated that the polyvinyl alcohol/collagen composite hydrogels have promising applications for pharmaceutical and biomedical fields.