COX-2 inhibitor delivery system aiming intestinal inflammatory disorders.

Selective COX-2 inhibitors such as etoricoxib (ETX) are potentially indicated for the treatment of intestinal inflammatory disorders. However, their systemic administration provokes some off-site secondary effects, decreasing the desirable local effectiveness. To circumvent such limitations, herein an ETX delivery system based on electrospun fibrous meshes (eFMs) was proposed.

Diaphragmatic hernia repair porcine model to compare the performance of biodegradable membranes against Gore-Tex.

Background: Patch repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) using Gore-Tex is associated with infection, adhesions, hernia recurrence, long-term musculoskeletal sequels and poor tissue regeneration. To overcome these limitations, the performance of two novel biodegradable membranes was tested to repair CDH in a growing pig model.

Methods: Twelve male pigs were randomly assigned to 3 different groups of 4 animals each, determined by the type of patch used during thoracoscopic diaphragmatic hernia repair (Gore-Tex, polycaprolactone electrospun membrane-PCLem, and decellularized human chorion membrane-dHCM).

Functional recovery of injured cavernous nerves achieved through endogenous nerve growth factor-containing bioactive fibrous membrane.

Radical prostatectomy is a highly successful treatment for prostate cancer, among the most prevalent manifestations of the illness. Damage of the cavernous nerve (CN) during prostatectomy is the main cause of postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED). In this study, the capability of a personalized bioactive fibrous membrane to regenerate injured CN was investigated.

Fucoidan from Inhibits Inflammatory Response, Both In Vitro and In Vivo.

Fucoidan has been reported to present diverse bioactivities, but each extract has specific features from which a particular biological activity, such as immunomodulation, must be confirmed. In this study a commercially available pharmaceutical-grade fucoidan extracted from , FE, was characterized and its anti-inflammatory potential was investigated. Fucose was the main monosaccharide (90 mol%) present in the studied FE, followed by uronic acids, galactose, and xylose that were present at similar values (3.

The Influence of Feeder Cell-Derived Extracellular Matrix Density on Thymic Epithelial Cell Culture.

The thymus is responsible for the selection and development of T cells, having an essential role in the establishment of adaptive immunity. Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are key players in T cell development interacting with thymocytes in the thymic 3D environment. Feeder-layer cells have been frequently used as platforms for the successful establishment of TEC cultures.

Surgical approaches to colonic and rectal anastomosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: Postoperative complications after a colonic and rectal surgery are of significant concern to the surgical community. Although there are different techniques to perform anastomosis (i.e.

Development of bilayered porous silk scaffolds for thymus bioengineering.

The thymus coordinates the development and selection of T cells. It is structured into two main compartments: the cortex and the medulla. The replication of such complex 3D environment has been challenged by bioengineering approaches.

Marine-Inspired Drugs and Biomaterials in the Perspective of Pancreatic Cancer Therapies.

Despite its low prevalence, pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest, typically characterised as silent in early stages and with a dramatically poor prognosis when in its advanced stages, commonly associated with a high degree of metastasis. Many efforts have been made in pursuing innovative therapeutical approaches, from the search for new cytotoxic drugs and other bioactive compounds, to the development of more targeted approaches, including improved drug delivery devices. Marine biotechnology has been contributing to this quest by providing new chemical leads and materials originating from different organisms.

Growth Factor-Free Vascularization of Marine-Origin Collagen Sponges Using Cryopreserved Stromal Vascular Fractions from Human Adipose Tissue.

The successful integration of transplanted three-dimensional tissue engineering (TE) constructs depends greatly on their rapid vascularization. Therefore, it is essential to address this vascularization issue in the initial design of constructs for perfused tissues. Two of the most important variables in this regard are scaffold composition and cell sourcing.

Laminin-2 immobilized on a 3D fibrous structure impacts cortical thymic epithelial cells behaviour and their interaction with thymocytes.

The tri-dimensionality of the thymic extracellular matrix (ECM) supports the crosstalk between thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells (TECs). The thymic ECM component laminin-2 is involved in the regulation of thymocytes and their interaction with cortical TECs (cTECs). Most in vitro studies use planar surfaces to study the interaction between ECM components and thymic cells.

Metronidazole Delivery Nanosystem Able To Reduce the Pathogenicity of Bacteria in Colorectal Infection.

Metronidazole (MTZ) is a drug potentially used for the treatment of intestinal infections, namely, the ones caused by colorectal surgery. The traditional routes of administration decrease its local effectiveness and present off-site effects. To circumvent such limitations, herein a drug delivery system (DDS) based on MTZ-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized at the surface of electrospun fibrous meshes is proposed.

Microfluidic-assisted electrospinning, an alternative to coaxial, as a controlled dual drug release system to treat inflammatory arthritic diseases.

Inflammatory arthritic diseases are characterized by a persistent inflammation of the synovial tissues where tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) pro-inflammatory cytokines are over-expressed, leading to progressive musculoskeletal disability. Methotrexate (MTX), a disease-modifying-anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) commonly applied in their treatment, can be used in combination with biological-DMARDs as anti-TNFα antibody to improve the treatments efficacy. However, their systemic administration comes with severe side-effects and limited therapeutic efficacy due to their off-target distribution and short half-life.

Stimulation of Neurite Outgrowth Using Autologous NGF Bound at the Surface of a Fibrous Substrate.

Peripheral nerve injury still remains a major clinical challenge, since the available solutions lead to dysfunctional nerve regeneration. Even though autologous nerve grafts are the gold standard, tissue engineered nerve guidance grafts are valid alternatives. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the most potent neurotrophic factor.

Chondrogenic differentiation induced by extracellular vesicles bound to a nanofibrous substrate.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are being increasingly studied owing to its regenerative potential, namely EVs derived from human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs). Those can be used for controlling inflammation, repairing injury, and enhancing tissue regeneration. Differently, the potential of EVs derived from human articular chondrocytes (hACs) to promote cartilage regeneration has not been thoroughly investigated.

Recapitulation of Thymic Function by Tissue Engineering Strategies.

The thymus is responsible for the development and selection of T lymphocytes, which in turn also participate in the maturation of thymic epithelial cells. These events occur through the close interactions between hematopoietic stem cells and developing thymocytes with the thymic stromal cells within an intricate 3D network. The complex thymic microenvironment and function, and the current therapies to induce thymic regeneration or to overcome the lack of a functional thymus are herein reviewed.

New Vascular Graft Using the Decellularized Human Chorion Membrane.

The increase of both arterial occlusive diseases and coronary heart diseases leads to a higher demand for small-diameter vascular grafts (<6 mm). The gold standard for small-diameter vessel replacement is the use of autologous veins. Nevertheless, up to 30% of these patients need to use vascular grafts.

Angiogenic potential of airbrushed fucoidan/polycaprolactone nanofibrous meshes.

Implantation of biomaterials and hybrid constructs in tissue engineering approaches presents major limitations such as inflammatory reaction and the lack of vasculature integration. Therefore, new strategies are needed to enhance implant function, immune protection, and revascularization. In this work, we developed fibrous meshes composed of fucoidan (Fu), a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from brown algae, and polycaprolactone (PCL), a synthetic biodegradable polymer, using the airbrush technique.

Fucoidan/chitosan nanoparticles functionalized with anti-ErbB-2 target breast cancer cells and impair tumor growth in vivo.

The work herein presented reports the development of fucoidan/chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with gemcitabine and functionalized with ErbB-2 antibody at their surface (NPs + Gem + Ab). The maximum immobilization of ErbB-2 on NPs' surface was set at 10 μg mL and resulted in NPs with a size around 160 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.18, and a zeta potential of 21 mV.

Fibronectin-Functionalized Fibrous Meshes as a Substrate to Support Cultures of Thymic Epithelial Cells.

Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are the main regulators of T lymphocyte development and selection, requiring a three-dimensional (3D) environment to properly perform these biological functions. The aim of this work was to develop a 3D culture substrate that allows the survival and proliferation of TECs. Thus, electrospun fibrous meshes (eFMs) were functionalized with fibronectin, one of the major extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins of the thymus.

Tubular Fibrous Scaffolds Functionalized with Tropoelastin as a Small-Diameter Vascular Graft.

Cardiovascular disorders are a healthcare problem in today's society. The clinically available synthetic vascular grafts are thrombogenic and could induce intimal hyperplasia. Rapid endothelialization and matched mechanical properties are two major requirements to be considered when designing functional vascular grafts.

Arteriovenous access in hemodialysis: A multidisciplinary perspective for future solutions.

In hemodialysis, vascular access is a key issue. The preferred access is an arteriovenous fistula on the non-dominant lower arm. If the natural vessels are insufficient for such access, the insertion of a synthetic vascular graft between artery and vein is an option to construct an arteriovenous shunt for punctures.