Exploring the Biocompatibility of Zwitterionic Copolymers for Controlling Macrophage Phagocytosis of Bacteria

This paper provides a biomaterial derived from zwitterionic polymer for controlling macrophage phagocytosis of bacteria. A series of zwitterionic copolymers, named DMAPS‐co‐AA, are synthesized with 3‐dimethyl (methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate (DMAPS) and acrylic acid (AA). The biocompatibility of DMAPS‐co‐AA copolymers can be adjusted by adjusting the DMAPS‐content or pH value. As the DMAPS‐content increases, the biocompatibility of zwitterionic copolymer increases. The zwitterionic copolymers with DMAPS content above 30 wt% have higher biocompatibility. Moreover, the biocompatibility also increases significantly as the pH increases from 3.4 to 7.2. By adjusting the pH above 5.8, the zwitterionic copolymer with lower DMAPS‐content also shows higher biocompatibility. Importantly, after incubation with the DMAPS‐co‐AA copolymer solutions at different pH values, phagocytosis behavior of macrophage RAW264.7 cells can also be adjusted. The phagocytosis of bacteria is enhanced at pH = 7.2. Thus, it is proposed that zwitterionic copolymers can be used for controlling phagocytosis of bacteria.

     

Potential Biosafety of Mxenes: Stability,Biodegradability, Toxicity and Biocompatibility

MXenes are two-dimensional nanomaterials with unique properties that are widely used in various fields of research, mostly in the field of energy. Fewer publications are devoted to MXene application in biomedicine and the question is: are MXenes safe for use in biological systems? The sharp edges of MXenes provide the structure of ”nanoknives“ which cause damage in direct physical contact with cells. This is effectively used for antibacterial research. However, on the other hand, most studies in cultured cells and rodents report that they do not cause obvious signs of cytotoxicity and are fully biocompatible. The aim of our review was to consider whether MXenes can really be considered non-toxic and biocompatible. Often the last two concepts are confused. We first reviewed aspects such as the stability and biodegradation of MXenes, and then analyzed the mechanisms of toxicity and their consequences for bacteria, cultured cells, and rodents, with subsequent conclusions regarding their biocompatibility.     

用作人体植入物的含铈钛合金的生物安全性评价

采用体内急性全身性毒性实验、溶血实验、 MTT实验 (Tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay) 和材料浸渍液培养细胞的形态学观察法实验对含铈钛合金的生物安全性进行了初步的评价。用X射线光电子能谱仪XPS分析了合金表面氧化膜成分，并用原子发射光谱仪ICP检测了浸渍液中合金元素的种类和浓度。结果显示：含铈和不含铈的Ti-Fe-Mo-Mn-Nb-Zr系合金表面均形成了以TiO2为主的致密氧化膜，浸渍液中均存在浓度为0.2～0.27 mg·L-1的Fe和0.16～0.87mg·L-1的Mn，这种义齿材料有利于补充人体所需的Fe和Mn；两者均未见任何急性毒性反应；溶血程度为0.558%～0.67%，有良好的血液相容性；细胞毒性实验评价级别为0和1级，无明显的细胞毒性作用；倒置相差显微镜观察细胞形态，未发现异常。由以上结果可以初步认为在实验浓度范围内的铈生物安全性是能够保证的。     

In-Vitro Biocompatibility Evaluation of Collagen-Hyaluronic Acid/Bioactive Glass Nanocomposite Scaffold

A nano-structured scaffold was designed for bone repair using collagen, hyaluronic acid (HYA) and nano-bioactive glass (NBaG) as its main components. The collagen-HYA/NBaG scaffold was prepared by using a freeze-drying technique and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Osteoblastls were seeded on these scaffolds and their proliferation rate, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and ability to form mineralized bone nodules were compared with those osteoblasts grown on cell culture plastic surfaces. The cross-section morphology shows that the collagen-HYA/NBaG scaffold possessed a three-dimensional (3D) interconnected homogenous porous structure. The results obtained from biological assessment show that this scaffold did not negatively affect osteoblasts proliferation rate and improves osteoblasts function as shown by increasing the ALP activity and calcium deposition and formation of mineralized bone nodules. Therefore, the composite scaffolds could provide a favorable environment for initial cell adhesion, maintained cell viability and cell proliferation, and had good in-vitro biocompatibility.     

Abiotic Sequence‐Coded Oligomers as Efficient In Vivo Taggants for the Identification of Implanted Materials

Sequence‐defined oligourethanes were tested as in vivo taggants for implant identification. The oligomers were prepared in an orthogonal solid‐phase iterative approach and thus contained a coded monomer sequence that can be unequivocally identified by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The oligomers were then included in small amounts (1 wt %) in square‐centimeter‐sized crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) model films, which were intramuscularly and subcutaneously implanted in the abdomen of rats. After one week, one month, or three months of implantation, the PVA films were explanted. The rat tissues exposed to the implants did not exhibit any adverse reactions, which suggested that the taggants are not harmful and probably not leaching out from the films. Furthermore, the explanted films were immersed in methanol, as a solvent for oligourethanes, and the liquid extract was analyzed by mass spectrometry. In all cases, the oligourethane taggant was detected, and its sequence was identified by MS/MS.     

Photoactive Nanostructures of Polypyrrole

The creation of nanostructures of the photoactive polymer polypyrrole (PPy) on glass substrates with the spin‐coating method is described. No additional post‐production treatment is necessary to obtain uniformly distributed photoactive nanostructures on macroscopically scaled substrates. Based on X‐ray reflectivity measurements, the critical solution concentration of PPy below which these nanostructures develop is determined. The PPy nanostructures are displayed with atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements, which prove that the nanostructures form directly on the substrate. With UV/Vis spectroscopy the absorption behavior of the nanostructures is probed in comparison to PPy films and PPy solutions. A linear dependence of the absorption of the nanostructure on the surface coverage measured with AFM is detected. The influence of confinement on the conjugation length results in a modified absorption behavior of the nanostructures.     

Assessment of the In Vivo Release and Biocompatibility of Novel Vesicles Containing Zinc in Rats

This paper is focused on the in vivo release and biocompatibility evaluation in rats of some novel systems entrapping zinc chloride in lipid vesicles. The particles were prepared by zinc chloride immobilization inside lipid vesicles made using phosphatidylcholine, stabilized with 0.5% chitosan solution, and dialyzed for 10 h to achieve a neutral pH. The submicrometric systems were physico-chemically characterized. White Wistar rats, assigned into four groups of six animals each, were treated orally with a single dose, as follows: Group I (control): deionized water 0.3 mL/100 g body weight; Group II (Zn): 2 mg/kg body weight (kbw) zinc chloride; Group III (LV-Zn): 2 mg/kbw zinc chloride in vesicles; Group IV (LVC-Zn): 2 mg/kbw zinc chloride in vesicles stabilized with chitosan. Haematological, biochemical, and immune parameters were assessed after 24 h and 7 days, and then liver fragments were collected for histopathological examination. The use of zinc submicrometric particles—especially those stabilized with chitosan—showed a delayed zinc release in rats. No substantial changes to blood parameters, plasma biochemical tests, serum complement activity, or peripheral neutrophils phagocytic capacity were noted; moreover, the tested substances did not induce liver architectural disturbances. The obtained systems provided a delayed release of zinc, and showed good biocompatibility in rats.     

Effect of Poly(3‐octylthiophene) Doping on the Attachment and Proliferation of Osteoblasts

The effect of doping P3OT with ferric chloride on the attachment and proliferation of MC3T3‐E1 osteoblasts is reported. Cell density and area correlated strongly with doping concentration: cells were larger and exhibited better spreading as doping increased. Cells cultured on undoped P3OT showed a decrease in proliferation between 24 and 48 h followed by a recovery after 72 h. However, this trend diminished with increasing doping concentration, and disappeared completely at the highest dopant level investigated. Analysis of cell‐cell spatial distributions suggested that contact inhibition of proliferation occurred similarly on both undoped and doped P3OT. From these results, FeCl₃‐doping had no significant deleterious effect on attachment or proliferation of osteoblasts in vitro.

     

Biocompatibility and structural stability of a laminin biopolymer

Polylaminin (polyLM) is a polymerized form of the extracellular matrix protein laminin obtained upon pH acidification. Here microscopy and spectroscopic tools are used to study the cell compatibility and the structural stability of polyLM, aiming at establishing its robustness as a biopolymer for therapeutic use. PolyLM is cell compatible as judged by the efficiency of attachment and neuritogenesis. It is resistant to low temperature. Addition of urea or an increase in hydrostatic pressure leads to polymer disassembly. PolyLM biofilms remain stable for 48 h in contact with cell culture medium. The sedimented polymer recovered after centrifugation and adsorbed on a glass coverslip preserved its original structure and its biological properties.

     

Evaluation of the Electrophilicites and Band Gaps of Conductive Polymers: A New Model

It is shown that the obtained hardness and electrophilicity values of the short length oligomers for a heterocyclic conductive polymer from density functional theory method are quadraticly correlated to those obtained from semiempirical method. Therefore these quantities for all oligomers (up to 15 repeating units) are predicted using the obtained quadratic relations. Both of these predicted quantities for different oligomers are fitted to a new exponential model (Y = Y_∞ e^d/n) to estimate the electronic properties for the considered conjugated polymers. The calculated band gaps from this model show better agreement with the reported experimental data than those predicted by the previous models. Because of a wide range of variations, the electrophilicity could be a better index for investigating the doping effect in polymers than the hardness.

     

聚吡咯纳米线(管)的合成

聚吡咯纳米线(管)是一种极具应用潜力的新材料.本文综述了聚吡咯纳米线(管)的各种合成方法.并对各方法的优缺点进行了评述.     

Biocompatibility of a Self‐Assembled Crosslinkable Hyaluronic Acid Nanogel

Hyaluronic acid nanogel (HyA‐AT) is a redox sensitive crosslinkable nanogel, obtained through the conjugation of a thiolated hydrophobic molecule to the hyaluronic acid chain. Engineered nanogel was studied for its biocompatibility, including immunocompatibility and hemocompatability. The nanogel did not compromise the metabolic activity or cellular membrane integrity of 3T3, microvascular endothelial cells, and RAW 264.7 cell lines, as determined by the 3‐[4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and lactate dehydrogenase release assays. Also, we didn't observe any apoptotic effect on these cell lines through the Annexin V‐FITC test. Furthermore, the nanogel cell internalization was analyzed using murine bone marrow derived macrophages, and the in vivo and ex vivo biodistribution of the Cy5.5 labeled nanogel was monitored using a non‐invasive near‐infrared fluorescence imaging system. The HyA‐AT nanogel exhibits fairly a long half‐live in the blood stream, thus showing potential for drug delivery applications.

     

Improved Cell Viability and Biocompatibility of Bacterial Cellulose through in Situ Carboxymethylation

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural product with multiple properties, which has been utilized in tissue engineering. However, cell adhesion and proliferation are reported to be weaker on native BC, providing less support compared to other types of biomaterials, like collagen. To increase the biocompatibility and the medical performance of BC, in situ modification is used to add carboxymethyl group to BC. By partially changing the structure and physical properties of BC, carboxymethylation significantly increases cell affinity and viability, especially on the initial cell adhesion. Furthermore, in the in vivo implantation, the tissue reaction shows that carboxymethylation significantly increases the biocompatibility of BC, exhibiting better tissue condition and a lower inflammatory reaction which are proved through HE staining and immunohistochemistry. The data prove that in situ carboxymethylation is a simple and direct way of improving the performance of BC in medical applications.     

Synthesis of Specially Designed Adhesion Promoter for Grafting Polypyrrole

Summary: Adhesion of conducting polymers to the metal/metal oxide surfaces is not strong. An attempt was made to modify these reactive metal surfaces by N-derivatised pyrroles. ω-(pyrrol-1-yl alkyl) phosphonic acids with different chain lengths were successfully synthesized and characterized. These derivatives were studied for their adsorption and self-assembling phenomena onto Ti/TiO₂, Ta/Ta₂O₅ and Al/Al₂O₃. Various analytical tools were used to characterize the modified surface. Contact angle measurements indicated an increase in hydrophobicity after adsorption that was further confirmed by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) studies showed that the molecules are oriented in a fashion such that phosphonic acid group is attached to the metal surface and pyrrole is pointing away from the surface. The oxidation potential of these derivatives was higher than pyrrole as expected. Surface polymerisation was successfully attempted on the modified metal substrates. The polymerised surface was examined under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The new compounds not only function as self-assembling molecules, they also exhibit a new class of reactive functionalized derivatives that can be used as monomers for polymerisation.     

Tuning the Charge Transport in Nickel Salicylaldimine Polymers by the Ligand Structure

The conductivity of the polymeric energy storage materials is the key factor limiting their performance. Conductivity of polymeric NiSalen materials, a prospective class of energy storage materials, was found to depend strongly on the length of the bridge between the nitrogen atoms of the ligand. Polymers obtained from the complexes containing C₃ alkyl and hydroxyalkyl bridges showed an electrical conductivity one order of magnitude lower than those derived from more common complexes with C₂ alkyl bridges. The observed difference was studied by means of cyclic voltammetry on interdigitated electrodes and operando spectroelectrochemistry, combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.     

导电水凝胶的制备

作为一种新型的功能材料,导电水凝胶已经引起广泛的关注。本文根据目前的研究现状,将导电水凝胶大致分为聚电解质导电水凝胶,酸掺杂导电水凝胶,无机物添加导电水凝胶以及导电高分子基导电水凝胶等几大类,并综述了它们的制备方法。另外,由于大分子体系的导电高分子和水凝胶都有着独特和重要的性能,这使得它们具有广阔的应用价值。所以,本文在综述导电水凝胶制备进展的同时着重综述了导电高分子基导电水凝胶的制备进展。     

Biocompatibility Assessment of Insulating Silicone Polymer Coatings Using an in vitro Glial Scar Assay

Vapor‐deposited silicone coatings are attractive candidates for providing insulation in neuroprosthetic devices owing to their excellent resistivity, adhesion, chemical inertness and flexibility. A biocompatibility assessment of these coatings is an essential part of the materials design process, but current techniques are limited to rudimentary cell viability assays or animal muscle implantation tests. This article describes how a recently developed in vitro model of glial scar formation can be utilized to assess the biocompatibility of vapor‐deposited silicone coatings on micron‐scale wires. A multi‐cellular monolayer comprising mixed glial cells was obtained by culturing primary rat midbrain cells on poly(D ‐lysine)‐coated well plates. Stainless steel microwires were coated with two novel insulating thin film silicone polymers, namely poly(trivinyltrimethylcyclotrisiloxane) (polyV₃D₃) and poly(trivinyltrimethylcyclotrisiloxane–hexavinyldisiloxane) (polyV₃D₃–HVDS) by initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). The monolayer of midbrain cells was disrupted by placing segments of coated microwires into the culture followed by immunocytochemical analysis after 7 d of implantation. Microglial proximity to the microwires was observed to correlate with the amount of fibronectin adsorbed on the coating surface; polyV₃D₃–HVDS adsorbed the least amount of fibronectin compared to both stainless steel and polyV₃D₃. Consequently, the relative number of microglia within 100 µm of the microwires was least on polyV₃D₃–HVDS coatings compared to steel and polyV₃D₃. In addition, the astrocyte reactivity on polyV₃D₃–HVDS coatings was lower compared to stainless steel and polyV₃D₃. The polyV₃D₃–HVDS coating was therefore deemed to be most biocompatible, least reactive and most preferable insulating coating for neural prosthetic devices.

     

Morphology Controlled Growth of Chitosan‐Bound Microtubes and a Study of their Biocompatibility and Antibacterial Activity

Self‐assembled peptide microtubes are fabricated with the biopolymer chitosan. The microtubes are covalently attached to chitosan and the morphology of the chitosan assembled on the surface of the microtubes can be tuned by altering the pH of the growth solution. Cytotoxicity studies in the presence of mouse embryonic fibroblasts indicate that the chitosan‐bound microtubes are highly biocompatible and the cells are able to survive and proliferate at a similar rate to the control. Antibacterial studies in the presence of E. coli prove that the chitosan‐bound microtubes are bactericidal. This simple method for the development of biocompatible microstructures will facilitate cell targeting, fabrication of efficient carrier devices, and the preparation of highly efficient antibacterial materials.

     

Green Synthesis of Gold,Iron and Selenium Nanoparticles Using Phytoconstituents: Preliminary Evaluation of Antioxidant and Biocompatibility Potential

This study aimed at fabricating gold (Au), iron (Fe) and selenium (Se) nanoparticles (NPs) using various natural plant extracts from the Fertile Crescent area and evaluating their potential application as antioxidant and biocompatible agents to be used in the pharmaceutical field, especially in drug delivery. The Au-NPs were synthesized using Ephedra alata and Pistacia lentiscus extracts, whereas the Fe-NPs and Se-NPs were synthesized using peel, fruit and seed extracts of Punica granatum. The phytofabricated NPs were characterized by the UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscope technique showed that the synthesized NPs surface was spherical, and the particle size analysis confirmed a particle size of 50 nm. The crystalline nature of the NPs was confirmed by the XRD analysis. All synthesized NPs were found to be biocompatible in the fibroblast and human erythroleukemic cell lines. Se-NPs showed a dose-dependent antitumor activity as evidenced from the experimental results with breast cancer (MCF-7) cells. A dose-dependent, free-radical scavenging effect of the Au-NPs and Se-NPs was observed in the DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, with the highest effect recorded for Au-NPs.