A Silk Fibroin and Peptide Amphiphile‐Based Co‐Culture Model for Osteochondral Tissue Engineering

New biomaterials with the properties of both bone and cartilage extracellular matrices (ECM) should be designed and used with co‐culture systems to address clinically applicable osteochondral constructs. Herein, a co‐culture model is described based on a trilayered silk fibroin‐peptide amphiphile (PA) scaffold cultured with human articular chondrocytes (hACs) and human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) in an osteochondral cocktail medium for the cartilage and bone sides, respectively. The presence of hACs in the co‐cultures significantly increases the osteogenic differentiation potential of hBMSCs based on ALP activity, RT‐PCR for osteogenic markers, calcium analyses, and histological stainings, whereas hACs produces a significant amount of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) for the cartilage region, even in the absence of growth factor TGF‐β family in the co‐culture medium. This trilayered scaffold with trophic effects offers a promising strategy for the study of osteochondral defects.

     

A novel ditopic ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene ligand-assisted Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction in aqueous media

A series of seven-membered ditopic ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene (dre-NHC) precursors, bearing sterically demanding and electron-rich aryl groups, were synthesised in moderate yields via the reaction of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(bromomethyl)benzene with the corresponding N,N′-diarylformamidines in the presence of K₂CO₃ in acetonitrile under an air atmosphere. All new compounds were characterised by HRMS, NMR spectroscopy, and microanalysis, as well as X-ray crystallography for compound 1c. The development of an efficient catalytic system for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of aryl chlorides with various boronic acids was also investigated using the in situ generated dre-NHC ligands.     

Scale-up synthesis of zinc borate from the reaction of zinc oxide and boric acid in aqueous medium

Synthesis of zinc borate was conducted in a laboratory and a pilot scale batch reactor to see the influence of process variables on the reaction parameters and the final product, 2ZnO·3B₂O₃·3.5H₂O. Effects of stirring speed, presence of baffles, amount of seed, particle size and purity of zinc oxide, and mole ratio of H₃BO₃:ZnO on the zinc borate formation reaction were examined at a constant temperature of 85 °C in a laboratory (4 L) and a pilot scale (85 L) reactor. Products obtained from the reaction in both reactors were characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, particle size distribution analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The kinetic data for the zinc borate production reaction was fit by using the logistic model. The results revealed that the specific reaction rate, a model parameter, decreases with increase in particle size of zinc oxide and the presence of baffles, but increases with increase in stirring speed and purity of zinc oxide; however, it is unaffected with the changes in the amount of seed and reactants ratio. The reaction completion time is unaffected by scaling-up.