Amidic alginate hydrogel for nucleus pulposus replacement.

Degeneration of intervertebral discs is the most common cause of back pain. The first phase of this degenerative process involves the nucleus pulposus (NP). A rapid recovery of this structure can prevent further degradation of the annulus fibrosus.

Competitive protein adsorption on micro patterned polymeric biomaterials, and viscoelastic properties of tailor made extracellular matrices.

Cell adhesion on biomaterial surfaces and the vitality of anchorage dependent cells is affected by several parameters of an adsorbate layer which is intentionally or spontaneously formed. Surface pre-treatments and several conditioning steps prior and during to the cell/biomaterial contact affect the composition, orientation, quantity and viscoelasticity of the interfacing layer between cells and biomaterial. This work was performed to elucidate the response of cells on two modified biomaterial surfaces based on protein or carbohydrate adsorbates: (a) Masked UV irradiations opened a simple route to obtain chemically patterned substrates controlling serum protein adsorption and cell adhesion.

Low- and high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterisation of hyaluronan-based native and sulfated hydrogels.

Hyaluronan-based hydrogels were synthesised using different crosslinking agents, such as 1,3-diaminopropane (1,3-DAP) and 1,6-diaminohexane (1,6-DAE). The hydrogels were sulfated to provide materials (Hyal-1,3-DAP, Hyal-1,6-DAE, HyalS-1,3-DAP and HyalS-1,6-DAE) that were characterised by both high- and low-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The (13)C NMR spectra of the materials were analysed to identify, characterise and study the crosslinking degree of the hydrogels.