The fabrication and characterization of poly(lactic acid) scaffolds for tissue engineering by improved solid–liquid phase separation

In this article a new technique was developed to fabricate scaffolds with a unique microstructure by solid–liquid separation in combination with particulate-leaching. Firstly, the effects of polymer concentration, quenching temperature on the porous morphology and the mechanical property of obtained scaffolds during solid–liquid separation have been investigated. Then, salt granules as porogen were introduced into the solid–liquid phase separation to produce the unique pore structure of the scaffold. The pore diameter of the scaffold could be controlled with the particulate size and the wall of pores possessed special microstructure, which enhanced the pore interconnectivity. The cell culture results confirmed that a good interconnectivity of the scaffold prepared by the improved solid–liquid separation was useful for nutrition transportation and cell proliferation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低热-高压法制备PLGA多孔支架及其体外降解研究

采用低热-高压法制备了聚(dl-丙交酯／乙交酯)75／25(PLGA75／25)组织工程多孔支架。该方法避免了使用有机溶剂，支架的孔隙率在90％以上，孔径大小分布均匀。多孔支架经过酒精处理后，支架表面产生许多微小的凹陷；用藻酸钙改性处理后，支架形态保持良好。两种处理都使支架的压缩强度有所增大，亲水性增强。虽然孔隙率高的支架降解速率稍慢，但其体外降解规律基本一致：特性粘数争力学强度衰减快，而质量损失较慢，降解6周后，支架的质量损失仅为3％左右；体外降解3周后，支架的形态保持良好，可望在细胞移植争组织修复的早期发挥支撑作用。     

可降解自固化类骨磷灰石支架的研究

0引言一直以来,钙磷生物材料如羟基磷灰石(hy-droxyapatite,HA)由于其成份与骨的无机成份相似,具有良好的生物相容性,作为骨修复材料引起了人们广泛的兴趣。磷酸钙骨水泥是一类可在生理条件下自固化的非陶瓷型类HA人工骨材料,这种由磷酸钙骨水泥(calcium phosphate cement,CPC)转变而成的HA,与天然骨磷灰石有类似的组成结构,植入人体后可参与新陈代谢,促进骨组织生长[1,2]。一些研究显示,CPC具有成骨活性和生物降解性,在体内被吸收的同时可引导新骨的生成,从而可克服自体骨、磷酸三钙陶瓷因吸收降解过快造成的局部缺陷以及陶瓷型HA长…     

Enhanced selectivity for inhibition of analog-sensitive protein kinases through scaffold optimization

The ability to inhibit any protein kinase of interest with a small molecule is enabled by a combination of genetics and chemistry. Genetics is used to modify the active site of a single kinase to render it distinct from all naturally occurring kinases. Next, organic synthesis is used to develop a small molecule, which does not bind to wild-type kinases but is a potent inhibitor of the engineered kinase. This approach, termed chemical genetics, has been used to generate highly potent mutant kinase-specific inhibitors based on a pyrazolopyrimidine scaffold. Here, we asked if the selectivity of the resulting pyrazolopyrimidines could be improved, as they inhibit several wild-type kinases with low-micromolar IC₅₀ values. Our approach to improve the selectivity of allele-specific inhibitors was to explore a second kinase inhibitor scaffold. A series of 6,9-disubstituted purines was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for inhibitory activity against several kinases in vitro and in vivo. Several purines proved to be potent inhibitors against the analog-sensitive kinases and exhibited greater selectivity than the existing pyrazolopyrimidines.     

Microrobotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold-based tissue engineering

Scaffold based tissue engineering strategies use cells, biomolecules and a scaffold to promote the repair and regeneration of tissues. Although scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches are being actively developed, most are still experimental, and it is not yet clear what defines an ideal scaffold/cell construct. Solid free form fabrication (SFF) techniques can precisely control matrix architecture (size, shape, interconnectivity, branching, geometry and orientation). The SFF methods enable the fabrication of scaffolds with various designs and material compositions, thus providing a control of mechanical properties, biological effects and degradation kinetics. This paper reviews the application of micro-robotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold design and fabrication. It also presents a novel robotic technique to fabricate scaffold/cell constructs for tissue engineering by the assembly of microscopic building blocks.     

Polymer Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications in Peripheral Nerve Reconstruction

The nervous system is a significant part of the human body, and peripheral nerve injury caused by trauma can cause various functional disorders. When the broken end defect is large and cannot be repaired by direct suture, small gap sutures of nerve conduits can effectively replace nerve transplantation and avoid the side effect of donor area disorders. There are many choices for nerve conduits, and natural materials and synthetic polymers have their advantages. Among them, the nerve scaffold should meet the requirements of good degradability, biocompatibility, promoting axon growth, supporting axon expansion and regeneration, and higher cell adhesion. Polymer biological scaffolds can change some shortcomings of raw materials by using electrospinning filling technology and surface modification technology to make them more suitable for nerve regeneration. Therefore, polymer scaffolds have a substantial prospect in the field of biomedicine in future. This paper reviews the application of nerve conduits in the field of repairing peripheral nerve injury, and we discuss the latest progress of materials and fabrication techniques of these polymer scaffolds.     

骨架结构多孔TiO2薄膜增强染料敏化太阳能电池性能

以空心球状TiO₂为基体、以片状TiO₂为骨架,采用刮刀法制备了染料敏化太阳能电池的多孔TiO₂光阳极薄膜。光电转化效率测试结果表明,当作为骨架支撑材料的片状TiO₂含量为20wt%时,光阳极薄膜组装成太阳能电池的光电转化效率达到最高值4.53%,比商业P25制备的无孔无骨架TiO₂薄膜电池(4.06%)及无骨架结构的多孔TiO₂薄膜电池(4.17%)的性能均有显著提高。当片状TiO₂的最佳含量为20wt%电池薄膜厚度为33 μm时,太阳能电池光电转化效率进一步提升为7.06%。光电性能增强的原因是骨架结构有利于快速传输电子并增大染料吸附量。本研究通过设计制备具有骨架结构的多孔TiO₂薄膜为提高染料敏化太阳能电池性能提供了新的思路。     

Microengineered PEG Hydrogels: 3D Scaffolds for Guided Cell Growth

Designing three‐dimensional (3D) scaffolds for selective manipulation of cell growth is of high relevance for applications in regenerative medicine. Especially, scaffolds with oriented morphologies bear high potential to guide the restoration of specific tissues. The fabrication of hydrogel scaffolds that support long‐term survival, proliferation, and unidirectional growth of embedded cells is presented here. Parallel channel structures are introduced into the bulk hydrogels by uniaxial freezing, providing stable, and uniform porosity suitable for cell invasion (pore diameters of 5–15 µm). In vitro assessment of the scaffolds with murine fibroblasts (NIH L929) shows a remarkable unidirectional movement along the channels, with the cells traveling several millimeters through the hydrogel.