Cationic homopolypeptides: A versatile tool to design multifunctional antimicrobial nanocoatings.

Postoperative infections are the most common complications faced by surgeons after implant surgery. To address this issue, an emerging and promising approach is to develop antimicrobial coatings using antibiotic substitutes. We investigated the use of polycationic homopolypeptides in a layer-by-layer coating combined with hyaluronic acid (HA) to produce an effective antimicrobial shield.

In vitro two-step granuloma formation model for testing innate immune response to implants and coatings.

The extensive innate immune response to implanted biomaterials contributes significantly to their sub-par performance and failure. Granuloma formation is one of such reactions which results in multi-cell type clusters in line with the immune reaction to implanted materials. However, currently no in vitro model of granuloma formation exists that takes into account the arrival of multiple cell types (immune cells and connective tissue cells) to the implant insertion site.

Prediction of coating thickness for polyelectrolyte multilayers via machine learning.

Layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition method of polyelectrolytes is a versatile way of developing functional nanoscale coatings. Even though the mechanisms of LbL film development are well-established, currently there are no predictive models that can link film components with their final properties. The current health crisis has shown the importance of accelerated development of biomedical solutions such as antiviral coatings, and the implementation of machine learning methodologies for coating development can enable achieving this.

Polyanionic Hydrogels as Reservoirs for Polycationic Antibiotic Substitutes Providing Prolonged Antibacterial Activity.

Implantation of biomedical devices is often followed by bacterial infections that may seriously affect implant functionalities and lead to their failure. In the context of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, which is a growing problem worldwide, new strategies that are able to overcome these problems are needed. In this work, we introduce a new formulation of hyaluronic acid (HA)-based antimicrobial material: HA hydrogels loaded with polyarginine (PAR), a polycationic antibiotic substitute.

Multimodal imaging of a humanized orthotopic model of hepatocellular carcinoma in immunodeficient mice.

The development of multimodal strategies for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma requires tractable animal models allowing for advanced in vivo imaging. Here, we characterize an orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma model based on the injection of luciferase-expressing human hepatoma Huh-7 (Huh-7-Luc) cells in immunodeficient mice. Luciferase allows for an easy repeated monitoring of tumor growth by in vivo bioluminescence.