Decellularization of human iliac artery: A vascular scaffold for peripheral repairs with human mesenchymal cells.

This work presents strong evidence supporting the use of decellularized human iliac arteries combined with adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hASCs) as a promising alternative for vascular tissue engineering, opening the path to future treatments for peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is a progressive condition with high rates of amputation and mortality due to ischemic damage and limited graft options. Traditional synthetic grafts often fail due to poor integration, while autologous grafts may be unsuitable for patients with compromised vascular health.

Interpenetrated Polymer Network Systems (PEG/PNIPAAm) Using Gamma Irradiation: Biological Evaluation for Potential Biomedical Applications.

The potential antimicrobial and antibiofouling properties of previously synthesized PEG/NiPAAm interpenetrated polymer networks (IPNs) were investigated against three of the most common bacteria (, , and ). The main goal was to evaluate the material's biocompatibility and determine its potential use as an antifouling component in medical devices. This was intended to provide an alternative option that avoids drug usage as the primary treatment, thus contributing to the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Development of Polyphenol-Functionalized Gelatin-Poly(vinylpyrrolidone) IPN for Potential Biomedical Applications.

Owing to their suitable physical and chemical properties, hydrogels have been considered a convenient choice for wound dressings because of the advantages that they offer, such as maintaining the moist environment required for wound healing. In this research, interpenetrating hydrogels of polyphenol-functionalized gelatin (GE), a water-soluble protein derived from natural polymer collagen with excellent biocompatibility, no immunogenicity, and hydrophilicity, and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a hydrophilic, non-toxic, biodegradable, biocompatible polymer that is soluble in many solvents, widely used in biomedical applications, particularly as a basic material for the manufacturing of hydrogel wound dressings, were synthesized. Gallic acid (GA) was selected in this work to study whether the interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) synthesized can provide antioxidant properties given that this material is intended to be used as a potential wound dressing.

Determination by Relaxation Tests of the Mechanical Properties of Soft Polyacrylamide Gels Made for Mechanobiology Studies.

Following the general aim of recapitulating the native mechanical properties of tissues and organs in vitro, the field of materials science and engineering has benefited from recent progress in developing compliant substrates with physical and chemical properties similar to those of biological materials. In particular, in the field of mechanobiology, soft hydrogels can now reproduce the precise range of stiffnesses of healthy and pathological tissues to study the mechanisms behind cell responses to mechanics. However, it was shown that biological tissues are not only elastic but also relax at different timescales.

Building a microfluidic cell culture platform with stiffness control using Loctite 3525 glue.

The study of mechanotransduction signals and cell response to mechanical properties requires designing culture substrates that possess some, or ideally all, of the following characteristics: (1) biological compatibility and adhesive properties, (2) stiffness control or tunability in a dynamic mode, (3) patternability on the microscale and (4) integrability in microfluidic chips. The most common materials used to address cell mechanotransduction are hydrogels, due to their softness. However, they may be impractical when complex scaffolds are sought and they lack viscous dissipative properties that are very important in mechanobiology.

Method for the Direct Fabrication of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels with Controlled Stiffness in Polystyrene Multiwell Plates for Mechanobiology Assays.

Polyacrylamide (PAA) hydrogels are now widely used in mechanobiology because the well-defined available protocols allow a robust and reproducible control of substrate stiffness within a physiological range. However, several assays require hydrogels inside traditional plastic substrates and the current methods remain relatively tedious. Here, we present a simple and direct fabrication technique that successfully attaches PAA hydrogels inside polystyrene multiwell plates and Petri dishes of different sizes.

Progress on the Use of Commercial Digital Optical Disc Units for Low-Power Laser Micromachining in Biomedical Applications.

The development of organ-on-chip and biological scaffolds is currently requiring simpler methods for microstructure biocompatible materials in three dimensions, to fabricate structural and functional elements in biomaterials, or modify the physicochemical properties of desired substrates. Aiming at addressing this need, a low-power CD-DVD-Blu-ray laser pickup head was mounted on a programmable three-axis micro-displacement system in order to modify the surface of polymeric materials in a local fashion. Thanks to a specially-designed method using a strongly absorbing additive coating the materials of interest, it has been possible to establish and precisely control processes useful in microtechnology for biomedical applications.