Electrospun Nanofibers Modified with Phospholipid Moieties for Enzyme Immobilization

Summary: PANCMPCs containing phospholipid side moieties were electrospun into nanofibers with a mean diameter of 90 nm. Field emission SEM was used to characterize the morphologies of the nanofibers. These phospholipid‐modified nanofibers were explored as supports for enzyme immobilization due to the characteristics of excellent biocompatibility, high surface/volume ratio, and porosity, which were beneficial to the catalytic efficiency and activity of immobilized enzymes. Lipase from Candida rugosa was immobilized on these nanofibers by adsorption. Preliminary results indicated that the properties of the immobilized lipase on these phospholipid‐modified nanofibers were greatly promising.

Schematic representation of the structure and electrostatic properties of phospholipid‐modified nanofibers.     

交联血管紧张素转化酶聚集体的制备及性质

制备了交联血管紧张素转化酶聚集体（ACE-CLEAs）,比较了ACE-CLEAs及游离ACE的酶学性质,包括最适酶促反应温度、最适pH值、Km、vmax、温度稳定性及pH稳定性等。 以酶活力回收率为参考,确定了制备ACE-CLEAs的最佳条件为：饱和度为80%的(NH4)2SO4溶液作为沉淀剂,沉淀时间0.5 h,质量分数为0.02%的戊二醛作为交联剂,交联时间1 h。 通过比较酶学性质发现,ACE-CLEAs比游离ACE具有更好的温度稳定性及pH稳定性,且与游离ACE接近的Km值表明,ACE-CLEAs对底物的亲和力与游离酶几乎相当。     

The Preparation,Characterization and Properties of Catalase Immobilized on Crosslinked Gellan

In the present paper, the reaction of chemical immobilization of catalase on a crosslinked macromolecular carrier of a polysaccharide structure (gellan) is studied. The influence of some reaction parameters (enzyme/carrier, activator/carrier ratios, duration) on the activity of enzymatic products is analyzed. The kinetics of the biocatalytic process, stability under different pH and temperature conditions, and the inhibitors effect were studied for the immobilized enzymes.     

静电纺丝纳米纤维膜固定化酶及其应用

静电纺丝是一种简单有效的制备聚合物纳米纤维的技术,在组织工程、药物控释和传感器等方面具有广泛的应用。采用静电纺丝技术制备得到的纳米纤维膜具有比表面积大、孔隙率高和易于分离回收等优点,可以作为一种优良的酶固定化载体,目前在酶固定化领域受到了广泛的关注。本文综述了近年来静电纺丝纳米纤维膜固定化酶的研究进展,在阐述静电纺丝纳米纤维膜制备技术的基础上,详细介绍了纳米纤维膜表面担载法和包埋法固定化酶的原理和方法,分析了不同固定化方法的优缺点,并讨论了静电纺丝纳米纤维膜固定化酶的应用前景,对静电纺丝纳米纤维膜固定化酶的发展方向进行了展望。     

胰蛋白酶交联聚体的制备及性质研究

交联酶聚体(CLEA)是一种新型的无载体固定化技术. 以胰蛋白酶为模型体系, 系统地研究了CLEA技术的制备工艺、应用条件、稳定性及结构形貌. (1)在制备工艺中考察了各步骤对CLEA酶活保留的影响, 重点分析了沉淀剂浓度、类型的影响, 结果表明100%乙醇是较为理想的沉淀剂; (2)在应用条件确定中测定CLEA的最适催化温度为70 ℃, 最适催化pH为9.0, 并解释了温度-活性、pH-活性曲线的漂移现象; (3)稳定性研究结果表明CLEA技术大幅提高了胰蛋白酶的热稳定性、溶剂稳定性, 且无酶泄漏; (4)在形貌表征中分别利用扫描电子显微镜、光学显微镜和激光粒度分析对CLEA的微观结构进行了多尺度研究, 着重讨论了其独特结构与优良特性间的关系. 本文所得结论为胰蛋白酶CLEA的应用提供基础数据, 并为CLEA技术应用于其它酶种提供参考.     

酶的改造及其催化工程应用

酶作为生物催化剂在食品、饲料、化妆品以及医药等诸多领域逐渐发挥重要作用。但是,酶对外界环境如pH和温度等很敏感,而实际的反应条件和生物体的生理环境差异较大,因此酶在实际应用中不稳定、容易失活,催化效率下降。酶的这一特点大大限制了其工业化应用。目前,定向进化、糖基化以及化学修饰等方法被广泛用于酶分子的改造以提高其稳定性、催化效率以及扩大其底物范围。其中,定向进化通过模拟自然进化机制,在体外改造基因从而获得性能优化的酶突变体,已经成为了酶改造的重要技术。在酶的实际应用过程中,介质工程、固定化以及多酶催化体系构建等技术被广泛用于提高酶的催化效率。其中,多酶催化体系由于其底物通道效应可以显著提高级联酶反应的效率而备受关注。本文首先重点介绍了近年酶应用的现状,然后从酶定向进化、糖基化以及化学修饰的角度总结了酶改造的方法,最后从介质工程、酶固定化以及体外多酶催化体系等方面进一步总结了酶实际应用中的催化工程策略。     

Tailorable Surface Morphology of 3D Scaffolds by Combining Additive Manufacturing with Thermally Induced Phase Separation

The functionalization of biomaterials substrates used for cell culture is gearing towards an increasing control over cell activity. Although a number of biomaterials have been successfully modified by different strategies to display tailored physical and chemical surface properties, it is still challenging to step from 2D substrates to 3D scaffolds with instructive surface properties for cell culture and tissue regeneration. In this study, additive manufacturing and thermally induced phase separation are combined to create 3D scaffolds with tunable surface morphology from polymer gels. Surface features vary depending on the gel concentration, the exchanging temperature, and the nonsolvent used. When preosteoblasts (MC‐3T3 cells) are cultured on these scaffolds, a significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity is measured for submicron surface topography, suggesting a potential role on early cell differentiation.     

3D X‐Ray Nanotomography of Cells Grown on Electrospun Scaffolds

Here, it is demonstrated that X‐ray nanotomography with Zernike phase contrast can be used for 3D imaging of cells grown on electrospun polymer scaffolds. The scaffold fibers and cells are simultaneously imaged, enabling the influence of scaffold architecture on cell location and morphology to be studied. The high resolution enables subcellular details to be revealed. The X‐ray imaging conditions were optimized to reduce scan times, making it feasible to scan multiple regions of interest in relatively large samples. An image processing procedure is presented which enables scaffold characteristics and cell location to be quantified. The procedure is demonstrated by comparing the ingrowth of cells after culture for 3 and 6 days.

     

A new Phosphorylated Polysaccharide for Biomedical Applications: Generation of 3D Scaffolds with Osteogenic Activity and Coating of Titanium Oxide Surfaces

Summary: A new phosphorylated derivative of carboxymethylcellulose and amidic carboxymethylcellulose containing one phosphate group for each disaccharide unit was synthesized using sodium trimetaphospahte (STMP) as the phosphating agent. The new polysaccharide was characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and the amount of phosphate groups was determined by elemental analysis. These modified polysaccharides were used both to prepare 3D scaffolds and functionalize titanium oxide surfaces with the aim to improve the osseointegration with the host tissue. The presence of phosphate groups modify the physical-chemical properties of the hydrogels with respect to the native ones. The evaluation of the bioactivity of the phosphorylated carboxymethylcellulose hydrogels towards osteoblast-like cells showed a significant increase in the osteocalcin production. The modified surfaces were chemically characterized by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and FT-IR, whereas the surface topography was analysed by Atomic Force Measurements (AFM) measurements before and after the polysaccharide coating. In vitro biological tests using osteoblast-like cells demonstrated that phosphorylated carboxymethylcellulose functionalized TiO₂ surfaces promoted better cell adhesion and significantly enhanced their proliferation. These findings suggest that the phosphate polysaccharide both as a 3D scaffold and as a surface coating promotes osteoblast growth potentially improving the biomaterial osseointegration rate.     

Modified-Hydroxyapatite-Chitosan Hybrid Composite Interfacial Coating on 3D Polymeric Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Three dimensional (3D) scaffolds have huge limitations due to their low porosity, mechanical strength, and lack of direct cell-bioactive drug contact. Whereas bisphosphonate drug has the ability to stimulate osteogenesis in osteoblasts and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) which attracted its therapeutic use. However it is hard administration low bioavailability, and lack of site-specificity, limiting its usage. The proposed scaffold architecture allows cells to access the bioactive surface at their apex by interacting at the scaffold's interfacial layer. The interface of 3D polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds has been coated with alendronate-modified hydroxyapatite (MALD) enclosed in a chitosan matrix, to mimic the native environment and stupulate the through interaction of cells to bioactive layer. Where the mechanical strength will be provided by the skeleton of PCL. In the MALD composite's hydroxyapatite (HAP) component will govern alendronate (ALD) release behavior, and HAP presence will drive the increase in local calcium ion concentration increases hMSC proliferation and differentiation. In results, MALD show release of 86.28 ± 0.22. XPS and SEM investigation of the scaffold structure, shows inspiring particle deposition with chitosan over the interface. All scaffolds enhanced cell adhesion, proliferation, and osteocyte differentiation for over a week without in vitro cell toxicity with 3.03 ± 0.2 kPa mechanical strength.     

Electrospun Polymeric Fibers Decorated with Silk Microcapsules via Encapsulation and Surface Immobilization for Drug Delivery

Hollow polymer microcapsules as drug carriers have the advantages of drug protection, storage, and controlled release. Microcapsules combined with tissue engineering scaffolds such as electrospun microfibers can enhance long-term local drug retention. However, the combination methods of microcapsules and fibers still need to be further explored. Here, different technical approaches to functionalize electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) microfibers with silk fibroin (SF) microcapsules through encapsulation and surface immobilization are developed, including direct blending and emulsion electrospinning for encapsulation, as well as covalent and cleavable disulfide-linkage for surface immobilization. The results of “blending” approach show that silk microcapsules with different sizes could be uniformly encapsulated inside electrospun fibers without aggregation. To further reduce the use of organic solvents, the microcapsules in the aqueous phase can be uniformly distributed in the PCL organic phase and successfully electrospun into fibers using surfactant span-80. For surface immobilization, silk microcapsules are efficiently covalent binding to the surface of electrospun PCL fibers via click chemistry and exhibited noncytotoxic. Based on this method, with the incorporation of a disulfide bond, the linkages between microcapsule and fiber could be cleaved under reducing conditions. These microcapsule-electrospun fiber combination methods provide sufficient options for different drug delivery requirements.     

Intracorneal Implantation of 3D Bioprinted Scaffolds Containing Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Using Femtosecond-Laser-Assisted Intrastromal Keratoplasty

Injury of the cornea is a complex biological process. Regeneration of the corneal stroma can be facilitated by the presence of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and application of tissue equivalents. A new tissue-engineering strategy for corneal stroma regeneration is presented using cellularized 3D bioprinted hydrogel constructs implanted into organ cultured porcine corneas using femtosecond laser-assisted intrastromal keratoplasty. The ex vivo cultured, MSC-loaded 3D bioprinted structures remain intact, support cell survival, and contain de novo synthesized extracellular matrix components and migrating cells throughout the observation period. At day 14 postimplantation, the cellularized tissue equivalents contain few or no cells, as demonstrated by optical coherence tomography imaging and immunofluorescent staining. This study successfully combines a laboratory-based method with modern, patient-care practice to produce a cell-laden tissue equivalent for corneal implantation. Optimal bioink composition and cellularization of tissue equivalents are essential in fine-tuning a method to promote the current technique as a future treatment modality.     

3D Printing of Aniline Tetramer‐Grafted‐Polyethylenimine and Pluronic F127 Composites for Electroactive Scaffolds

Electroactive hydrogel scaffolds are fabricated by the 3D‐printing technique using composites of 30% Pluronic F127 and aniline tetramer‐grafted‐polyethylenimine (AT‐PEI) copolymers with various contents from 2.5% to 10%. The synthesized AT‐PEI copolymers can self‐assemble into nanoparticles with the diameter of ≈50 nm and display excellent electroactivity due to AT conjugation. The copolymers are then homogeneously distributed into 30% Pluronic F127 solution by virtue of the thermosensitivity of F127, denoted as F/AT‐PEI composites. Macroscopic photographs of latticed scaffolds elucidate their excellent printability of F/AT‐PEI hydrogels for the 3D‐printing technique. The conductivities of the printed F/AT‐PEI scaffolds are all higher than 2.0 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹, which are significantly improved compared with that of F127 scaffold with only 0.94 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹. Thus, the F/AT‐PEI scaffolds can be considered as candidates for application in electrical stimulation of tissue regeneration such as repair of muscle and cardiac nerve tissue.

     

Metal–Organic Framework Disintegrants: Enzyme Preparation Platforms with Boosted Activity

An enzyme formulation using customized enzyme activators (metal ions) to directly construct metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as enzyme protective carriers is presented. These MOF carriers can also serve as the disintegrating agents to simultaneously release enzymes and their activators during biocatalysis with boosted activities. This highly efficient enzyme preparation combines enzyme immobilization (enhanced stability, easy operation) and homogeneous biocatalysis (fast diffusion, high activity). The MOF serves as an ion pump that continuously provides metal ion activators that greatly promote the enzymatic activities (up to 251 %). This MOF–enzyme composite demonstrated an excellent protective effect against various perturbation environments. A mechanistic investigation revealed that the spontaneous activator/enzyme release and ion pumping enable enzymes to sufficiently interact with their activators owing to the proximity effects, leading to a boost in biocatalytic performance.     

Nanofibrous Membranes Containing Carbon Nanotubes: Electrospun for Redox Enzyme Immobilization

Summary: Nanofibrous membranes that possess reactive groups are fabricated by the electrospinning process from PANCAA solutions that contain MWCNTs. Field emission scanning electron microscopy is used to evaluate the morphology and diameter of the nanofibers. Potentials for applying these nanofibrous membranes to immobilize redox enzymes by covalent bonding are explored. It is envisaged that the electrospun nanofibrous membranes could provide a large specific area and the MWCNTs could donate/accept electrons for the immobilized redox enzymes. Results indicate that, after blending with MWCNTs, the diameter of the PANCAA nanofiber increases slightly. The PANCAA/MWCNT nanofibrous membranes immobilize more enzymes than that without MWCNTs. Moreover, as the concentration of the MWCNTs increases, the activity of the immobilized catalase is enhanced by about 42%, which is mainly attributed to the promoted electron transfer through charge‐transfer complexes and the π system of MWCNTs.

The covalent immobilization of redox enzymes, such as catalase, on a PANCAA/MWCNTs nanofiber.     

Preparation of 3D fibroin/chitosan blend porous scaffold for tissue engineering via a simplified method

In this work, we developed a simple and flexible method to manufacture a 3D porous scaffold based on the blend of regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) and chitosan (CS). No crosslinker or other toxic reagents were used in this method. The pores of resulted 3D scaffolds were connected with each other, and their sizes could be easily controlled by the concentration of the mixed solution. Compared with pure RSF scaffolds, the water absorptivities of these RSF/CS blend scaffolds with significantly enhanced mechanical properties were greatly increased. The results of MTT and RT-PCR tests indicated that the chondrocytes grew very well in these blend RSF/CS porous scaffolds. This suggested that the RSF/CS blend scaffold prepared by this new method could be a promising candidate for applications in tissue engineering.