Fabrication of Nanofiber Scaffolds With Gradations in Fiber Organization and Their Potential Applications

A new and simple method for fabrication of nanofiber scaffolds with gradations in fiber organization is reported. The nanofiber organization, achieved by deposition of random fibers on the uniaxially aligned nanofiber mat in a gradient manner, directed morphological changes of applied adipose‐derived stem cells. These morphological changes and resultant biochemical changes can help mimic the structural orientation of complex biomechanical structures like the collagen fiber structure at the tendon‐to‐bone insertion site. In addition, chemical gradients can be established through nanoencapsulation in this novel scaffold allowing for enhanced biomedical applications.

     

骨靶向抗肿瘤药物中间体N-Boc-N’-3,3-双(二乙氧膦酰基)丙基甘氨酰胺的合成

采用缩合、Michael加成、氢化还原和偶联等多步应合成了骨靶向抗肿瘤药物的关键中间体——N-Boc-N’-3,3-双(二乙氧膦酰基)丙基甘氨酰胺,其结构经1H NMR,13C NMR,IR和MS确证。     

大豆异黄酮对骨质疏松模型大鼠骨量及微观结构的影响

为研究大豆异黄酮（SI）对骨质疏松模型大鼠骨量及微观结构的影响,将46只雌性SD大鼠双侧摘除卵巢,术后一周按血清总胆固醇水平随机分为5组,分别给予雌激素,低、中、高剂量SI干预并设正常对照组,实验周期为12周,灌胃给药,每周称质量一次,分别在去卵巢、给药4、8周处死时抽取尾静脉血,实验结束后分别测定血清碱性磷酸酶（AKP）活性及骨密度等指标。结果表明,高剂量SI干预对维持大鼠骨密度的作用与雌激素相似,去卵巢后干预SI可提高碱性磷酸酶（AKP）活性并能缓解因去卵巢造成的骨丢失,全视野下骨形态学以雌激素组、高剂量SI干预组与正常组结构最为接近。提示大豆异黄酮对骨质疏松模型大鼠的骨量及微观结构存在一定影响,中、高剂量干预可使骨质疏松模型大鼠血清AKP酶活性增加、逆转因去势造成的骨密度下降,考虑到植物雌激素与哺乳动物的雌激素受体（ER）结合能力低下,采用SI在临床开展干预的剂量与远期效果尚待进一步论证。     

Raman spectroscopy reveals differences in collagen secondary structure which relate to the levels of mineralisation in bones that have evolved for different functions

Bone is a composite material comprising a collagen fibril scaffold surrounded by crystals of carbonated‐hydroxyapatite mineral. It is well established that the relative proportions of mineral and collagen in mature bone are not definite and are adapted in order to ‘tune’ its mechanical properties. It is not known, however, how the mineral to collagen ratio is controlled. This paper uses Raman spectroscopy (which permits the probing of both the mineral and the collagen phases of bone) to explore the hypothesis that the control mechanism is related to the nature of the collagen and that bones with different levels of mineralisation have qualitatively different collagen. Raman spectra of functionally adapted bones with varying levels of mineralisation are presented and features that indicate the differences in the collagen's secondary structure (amide I band profiles) and post‐translational modification (hydroxyproline/proline ratios) are highlighted. The study demonstrates that Raman spectroscopy can provide a means to investigate the mechanisms that control the mineral to collagen ratio of bone. Understanding these mechanisms could pave the way towards the therapeutic alteration of the mineral to collagen ratio and, thus, the control of the mechanical properties of bone. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age- and direction-related adaptations of lumbar vertebral trabecular bone with respect to apparent stiffness and tissue level stress distribution

The objective of this study was to study the age-related adaptation of lumbar vertebral trabecular bone at the apparent level, as well as the tissue level in three orthogonal directions. Ninety trabecular specimens were obtained from six normal L4 vertebral bodies of six male cadavers in two age groups, three aged 62 years and three aged 69 years, and were scanned using a high-resolution micro-computed tomography （micro-CT） system, then converted to micro- finite element models to do micro-finite element analyses. The relationship between apparent stiffness and bone volume fraction, and the tissue level yon Mises stress distribution for each trabecular specimen when compressed separately in the longitudinal direction, medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions （transverse directions） were derived and compared between two age groups. The results showed that at the apparent level, trabecular bones from 69-year group had stiffer bone structure relative to their volume fractions in all three directions, and in both age groups, changes in bone volume fraction could explain more variations in apparent stiffness in the longitudinal direction than the transverse directions; at the tissue level, aging had little effect on the tissue von Mises stress distributions for the compressions in all the three directions. The novelty of the present study was that it provided quantitative assessments on the age and direction- related adaptation of Chinese male lumbar vertebral trabecular bone from two different levels： stiffness at the apparent level and stress distribution at the tissue level. It may help to understand the failure mechanisms and fracture risks of vertebral body associated with aging and direction for the prevention of fracture risks in elder individuals.     

Numerical simulation on the adaptation of forms in trabecular bone to mechanical disuse and basic multi-cellular unit activation threshold at menopause

The objective of this paper is to identify the effects of mechanical disuse and basic multi-cellular unit （BMU） activation threshold on the form of trabecular bone during menopause. A bone adaptation model with mechanical- biological factors at BMU level was integrated with finite element analysis to simulate the changes of trabecular bone structure during menopause. Mechanical disuse and changes in the BMU activation threshold were applied to the model for the period from 4 years before to 4 years after menopause. The changes in bone volume fraction, trabecular thickness and fractal dimension of the trabecular structures were used to quantify the changes of trabecular bone in three different cases associated with mechanical disuse and BMU activation threshold. It was found that the changes in the simulated bone volume fraction were highly correlated and consistent with clinical data, and that the trabecular thickness reduced signi-ficantly during menopause and was highly linearly correlated with the bone volume fraction, and that the change trend of fractal dimension of the simulated trabecular structure was in correspondence with clinical observations. The numerical simulation in this paper may help to better understand the relationship between the bone morphology and the mecha-nical, as well as biological environment; and can provide a quantitative computational model and methodology for the numerical simulation of the bone structural morphological changes caused by the mechanical environment, and/or the biological environment.     

Parametric study of control mechanism of cortical bone remodeling under mechanical stimulus

The control mechanism of mechanical bone remodeling at cellular level was investigated by means of an extensive parametric study on a theoretical model described in this paper. From a perspective of control mechanism, it was found that there are several control mechanisms working simultaneously in bone remodeling which is a complex process. Typically, an extensive parametric study was carried out for investigating model parameter space related to cell differentiation and apoptosis which can describe the fundamental cell lineage behaviors. After analyzing all the combinations of 728 permutations in six model parameters, we have identified a small number of parameter combinations that can lead to physiologically realistic responses which are similar to theoretically idealized physiological responses. The results presented in the work enhanced our understanding on mechanical bone remodeling and the identified control mechanisms can help researchers to develop combined pharmacological-mechanical therapies to treat bone loss diseases such as osteoporosis.     

松质骨拉伸细观分析的实验研究

设计了扫描电镜内专用的加载装置,研究了松质骨受拉时胞体结构的细观力学行为,获得了不同加载条件下的松质骨SEM照片和断口SEM照片,为分析松质骨变形机理和破坏机理提供实验基础,也为同类研究提供有益参考。     

发钙与骨密度两种测试方法的观察比较

探讨了发钙检测的可靠性。对同一个患者同时做两种检测,发钙用ICPQ－1012型电感耦合高频等离子体发射光谱仪检测,骨密度则采有中国科学技术大学中佳光电仪器分公司生产的GBD－928骨密度测试检测,均由专人进行操作。结果表明,151例患者的发钙与骨密度测试结果相符的有74例,占49％。可见评价一个人的钙营养状况不能只看发钙,特别对发钙高的患者,应结合临床,最好再做骨密度或甲状旁腺素等的检测,以便准确地判断体内钙营养状况。