Enhancing bone repair efficiency through synergistic modification of recombinant human collagen onto PLLA membranes.

Given the exponential growth of the recombinant human collagen market, it is paramount to devise a robust and straightforward design strategy aimed at preserving the remarkable biological activity of recombinant human collagen while endowing it with tailored mechanical properties and stable morphologies. This innovative approach stands to broaden its applicability in hard tissue repair endeavors. Our study employed a synergistic approach of alkali hydrolysis and Schiff's base chemistry to graft Type I recombinant human collagen (rhCol-I) onto poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) membranes, yielding PLLA-rhCol composites.

Multiple-Effect Combined Hydrogels: "Temporal Regulation" Treatment of Osteosarcoma-Associated Bone Defects with Switchable Hyperthermia and Bioactive Agents.

Achieving the clinically staged treatment of osteosarcoma-associated bone defects encounters the multiple challenges of promptly removing postoperative residual tumor cells and bacterial infection, followed by bone reconstruction. Herein, a core/shell hydrogel with multiple-effect combination is designed to first exert antitumor and antibacterial activities and then promote osteogenesis. Specifically, doxorubicin (DOX) is loaded by magnesium-iron-based layered double hydroxide (LDH) to prepare LDOX, which is introduced into a thermo-sensitive hydrogel to serve as an outer shell of the core/shell hydrogel, meanwhile, LDH-contained liquid crystal hydrogel, abbreviated as LCgel-L, is served as an inner core.

Creating a bionic scaffold via light-curing liquid crystal ink to reveal the role of osteoid-like microenvironment in osteogenesis.

Osteoid plays a crucial role in directing cell behavior and osteogenesis through its unique characteristics, including viscoelasticity and liquid crystal (LC) state. Thus, integrating osteoid-like features into 3D printing scaffolds proves to be a promising approach for personalized bone repair. Despite extensive research on viscoelasticity, the role of LC state in bone repair has been largely overlooked due to the scarcity of suitable LC materials.

Exosome-loaded hyaluronic acid hydrogel composite with oxygen-producing 3D printed polylactic acid scaffolds for bone tissue repair and regeneration.

Bone defects can interfere with bone healing by disrupting the local environment, resulting in vascular damage and hypoxia. Under these conditions, insufficient oxygen availability is a significant factor that exacerbates disease by blocking angiogenesis or osteogenesis. Exosomes play a crucial role in intercellular communication and modulation of inflammation to aid bone regeneration.

A Wood-Derived Periosteum for Spatiotemporal Drug Release: Boosting Bone Repair through Anisotropic Structure and Multiple Functions.

Existing artificial periostea face many challenges, including difficult-to-replicate anisotropy in mechanics and structure, poor tissue adhesion, and neglected synergistic angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Here, inspired by natural wood (NW), a wood-derived elastic artificial periosteum is developed to mimic the structure and functions of natural periosteum, which combines an elastic wood (EW) skeleton, a polydopamine (PDA) binder layer, and layer-by-layer (LBL) biofunctional layers. Specifically, EW derived from NW is utilized as the anisotropic skeleton of artificial periosteum to guide cell directional behaviors, moreover, it also shows a similar elastic modulus and flexibility to natural periosteum.

Chitin whisker/chitosan liquid crystal hydrogel assisted scaffolds with bone-like ECM microenvironment for bone regeneration.

Natural bone exhibits a complex anisotropic and micro-nano hierarchical structure, more importantly, bone extracellular matrix (ECM) presents liquid crystal (LC) phase and viscoelastic characteristics, providing a unique microenvironment for guiding cell behavior and regulating osteogenesis. However, in bone tissue engineering scaffolds, the construction of bone-like ECM microenvironment with exquisite microstructure is still a great challenge. Here, we developed a novel polysaccharide LC hydrogel supported 3D printed poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) scaffold with bone-like ECM microenvironment and micro-nano aligned structure.

In Situ Construction of Morphologically Different Hydroxyapatite-Mineralized Structures on a Three-Dimensional Bionic Chitin Scaffold.

Slow healing at the tendon-bone interface is a prominent factor in the failure of tendon repair surgeries. The development of functional biomaterials with 3D gradient structures is urgently needed to improve tendon-bone integration. The crystalline form of hydroxyapatite (HAP) has a crucial impact on cell behavior, which directly influences protein adsorption, such as bone morphogenetic protein 2, the adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation with cells.

Highly anisotropic and elastic cellulosic scaffold guiding cell orientation and osteogenic differentiation via topological and mechanical cues.

Inspired by the similarity of anisotropic channels in wood to the canals of bone, the elastic wood-derived (EW) scaffolds with anisotropic channels were prepared via simple delignification treatment of natural wood (NW). We hypothesize that the degree of delignification will lead to differences in mechanical properties of scaffolds, which in turn directly affect the behaviors and fate of stem cells. The delignification process did not destroy the anisotropic channel structure of the scaffolds, but endowed the scaffolds with good elasticity and rapid stress relaxation.

Photothermal effective CeONPs combined in thermosensitive hydrogels with enhanced antibacterial, antioxidant and vascularization performance to accelerate infected diabetic wound healing.

Chronic diabetic wound healing remains a formidable challenge due to susceptibility to bacterial infection, excessive oxidative stress, and poor angiogenesis. To address these issues, a sodium alginate (SA) based photothermal hydrogel dressing with multifunction was fabricated to facilitate wound treatment. Ceria nanoparticles (CeONPs) was synthesized, and their antibacterial performance by near-infrared light triggered photothermal effects was first studied and verified in this work.

N-acyl homoserine lactone mediating initial adhesion of microalgal biofilm formation.

While pioneering methods have demonstrated that bacterial N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) signaling molecules can influence the growth and self-aggregation of suspended microalgae, whether AHLs can affect the initial adhesion to a carrier has remained an open question. Here we revealed that the microalgae exhibited different adhesion potential under AHL mediation, where the performance was affiliated to both AHL types and concentrations. The result can be well explained by the interaction energy theory, where the energy barrier between the carriers and the cells varied due to AHL mediation.

Synergistic effect of Mn-Si-COS on wound immune microenvironment by inhibiting excessive skin fibrosis mediated with ROS/TGF-β1/Smad7 signal.

Excessive oxidative stress and inflammation often impede wound healing and ultimately lead to excessive skin fibrosis formation. It was known that the structural properties of biomaterials can affect the healing and immune response of surrounding tissues. In this work, a composite structure of Mn-Si-chitooligosaccharides (COS) was designed (COS@Mn-MSN) and the ability of regulating wound microenvironment for inhibiting skin fibrosis was investigated.

Preparation of chitin/MXene/poly(L-arginine) composite aerogel spheres for specific adsorption of bilirubin.

Currently, hemoperfusion is clinically the most rapid and effective treatment for removing toxins from the blood. The core of hemoperfusion is the sorbent inside the hemoperfusion device. Due to the complex composition of the blood, adsorbents tend to adsorb substances such as proteins in the blood (non-specific adsorption) while adsorbing toxins.

Modulating of Bouligand Structure and Chirality Constructed Bionically Based on the Self-Assembly of Chitin Whiskers.

Chitin can self-assemble into a liquid crystal phase with supramolecular chirality and Bouligand structure, which is widely found in the exoskeletons of arthropods. However, bionically replicating this structure via the self-assembly of chitin whiskers (CHWs) is still a challenge. Here, the effects of several internal and external parameters on the self-assembly of CHWs were revealed based on liquid crystal phase, chirality, Bouligand structure, and rheological properties.

Sprayable alginate hydrogel dressings with oxygen production and exosome loading for the treatment of diabetic wounds.

Chronic wound unhealing is a common complication in diabetic patients, which is mainly caused by tissue hypoxia, slow vascular recovery, and a long period of inflammation. Here we present a sprayable alginate hydrogel (SA) dressing consisting of oxygen-productive (CP) microspheres and exosomes (EXO) to promote local oxygen generation, accelerate macrophage towards M2 polarization, and improve cell proliferation in diabetic wounds. Results show that the release of oxygen continues for up to 7 days, reducing the expression of hypoxic factors in fibroblasts.

3D light-curing printing to construct versatile octopus-bionic patches.

Reliable, fast and switchable gluing modes are critically important in medical adhesives and intelligent climbing robot applications. The octopus-bionic patch has attracted the attention of many scholars. The suction cup structure of the octopus achieves adhesion through differential pressure, showing strong adhesion in both dry and wet environments.

Fabrication of an Injectable Star-polylactide/Thiolated Hyaluronate Hydrogel as a Double Drug-Delivery System for Cancer Treatment.

Unsatisfactory solid-tumor penetration or rapid metabolism of nanomaterials limits their therapeutic efficacy. Here, we designed an injectable thiolated hyaluronate (HA-SH) hydrogel as a stable drug-releasing platform for in situ tumor treatment. Biodegradable star-shaped polylactide (S-PLLA) was first synthesized and fabricated to porous microspheres to encapsulate hydrophobic curcumin (Cur@S-PLLA), which was then blended with hydrophilic doxorubicin (Dox) and the HA-SH precursor to form composite in situ formable hydrogels [Cur@S-PLLA/(Dox)HA-SH].

Highly Elastic and Anisotropic Wood-Derived Composite Scaffold with Antibacterial and Angiogenic Activities for Bone Repair.

Scaffold-based tissue engineering is a promising strategy to address the rapidly growing demand for bone implants, but developing scaffolds with bone extracellular matrix-like structures, suitable mechanical properties, and multiple biological activities remains a huge challenge. Here, it is aimed to develop a wood-derived composite scaffold with an anisotropic porous structure, high elasticity, and good antibacterial, osteogenic, and angiogenic activities. First, natural wood is treated with an alkaline solution to obtain a wood-derived scaffold with an oriented cellulose skeleton and high elasticity, which can not only simulate collagen fiber skeleton in bone tissue but also greatly improve the convenience of clinical implantation.

Bone ECM-inspired biomineralization chitin whisker liquid crystal hydrogels for bone regeneration.

As a particular cell niche, natural bone extracellular matrix (ECM) is an organic-inorganic composite material formed by mineralization of liquid crystal (LC) collagen fiber network. However, designing bone repair materials that highly imitate the LC characteristic and composite components of natural bone ECM is a great challenge. Here, we report a novel kind of bone ECM-inspired biomineralization chitin whisker LC hydrogels.

An injectable and pH-responsive hyaluronic acid hydrogel as metformin carrier for prevention of breast cancer recurrence.

To achieve the pH-responsive release of metformin in tumor acidic microenvironment, we prepared OHA-Met by covalently grafting metformin (Met) onto oxidized hyaluronic acid (OHA) through imine bonds, and then prepared carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/OHA-Met drug loaded hydrogels. The CMCS/OHA-Met hydrogels showed the in-situ injection performance. At pH = 7.

Flammulina velutipes-derived carbon dots for fluorescence detection and imaging of hydroxyl radical.

Monitoring hydroxyl radical (•OH) fluctuation is of great importance to study some relative pathological processes and to predict early diagnosis of diseases. Efficient •OH-responsive fluorescent sensors based on carbon dots (CDs) have been reported, but most researches have focused on the new strategies for the synthesis and doping of the CDs. Herein, a kind of biomass CDs (F-CDs) with Flammulina velutipes (F.

Bone ECM-like 3D Printing Scaffold with Liquid Crystalline and Viscoelastic Microenvironment for Bone Regeneration.

Implanting a 3D printing scaffold is an effective therapeutic strategy for personalized bone repair. As the key factor for the success of bone tissue engineering, the scaffold should provide an appropriate bone regeneration microenvironment and excellent mechanical properties. In fact, the most ideal osteogenic microenvironment is undoubtedly provided by natural bone extracellular matrix (ECM), which exhibits liquid crystalline and viscoelastic characteristics.

Photocurable liquid crystal hydrogels with different chargeability and tunable viscoelasticity based on chitin whiskers.

We develop a kind of photocurable liquid crystal hydrogels with bone extracellular matrix (ECM)-like liquid crystal state and viscoelasticity, as well as different chargeability. First, positively charged chitin whiskers (CHWs) and negatively charged maleic anhydride chitin whiskers (mCHWs) were prepared, which further self-assemble to form chiral nematic liquid crystals under ultrasonic treatment, respectively. Subsequently, poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and photo initiator were added, and then two kinds of liquid crystal hydrogels with bone ECM-like viscoelasticity and different chargeability were prepared under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation.

Polyurethane/Liquid Crystal Microfibers with pDNA Polyplex Loadings for the Optimal Release and Promotion of HUVEC Proliferation.

Fiber structures with connected pores resemble the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) in tissues, and show high potential for promoting the formation of natural functional tissue. The geometry of composite fibers produced by electrospinning is similar to that of the living-tissue ECM, in terms of structural complexity. The introduction of liquid crystals does not affect the morphology of fibers.

Temperature- and pH-responsive injectable chitosan hydrogels loaded with doxorubicin and curcumin as long-lasting release platforms for the treatment of solid tumors.

The efficacy of treating solid tumors with chemotherapy is primarily hindered by dose-limiting toxicity due to off-target effects and the heterogeneous drug distribution caused by the dense extracellular matrix. The enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect within tumors restricts the circulation and diffusion of drugs. To overcome these obstacles, hydrogels formed at the tumor site have been proposed to promote drug accumulation, retention, and long-lasting release.