Effect of collagen denaturation degree on mechanical properties and biological activity of nanofibrous scaffolds.

Further progress in regenerative medicine and bioengineering highly depends on the development of 3D polymeric scaffolds with active biological properties. The most attention is paid to natural extracellular matrix components, primarily collagen. Herein, nonwoven nanofiber materials with various degrees of collagen denaturation and fiber diameters 250-500 nm were produced by electrospinning, stabilized by genipin, and characterized in detail.

Sodium alginate-based composites as a collagen substitute for skin bioengineering.

The skin is a combination of two different types of tissue-epithelial and connective (mesenchymal). The outer protective layer of the skin, the epidermis, consists of multiple layers of keratinocytes residing on the basement membrane that separates them from the underlying dermis, which consists of a well-vascularized fibrous extracellular matrix seeded mainly by fibroblasts and mesenchymal stromal cells. These skin features suggest that the development of a fibroblast-friendly porous scaffold covered with a flat dense sheath mimicking the basement membrane, and sufficient to support keratinocyte attachment, would be a reasonable approach in the generation of clinically-relevant skin substitutes useful for reconstructive dermatology and burn treatment.

Fibrinogen-modified sodium alginate as a scaffold material for skin tissue engineering.

In search for a new pro-angiogenic scaffold material suitable for skin bioengineering and grafting therapy, we have fabricated a number of composite sodium alginate (AG)-fibrinogen (FG) sponge scaffolds using the freeze-drying approach. Thrombin was added to drive FG/fibrin conversion, while ε-aminocapronic acid (εAc) was used as antifibrinolytic component. The slow rates of scaffold biodegradation were achieved by using Ca and Mg cations as cross-linking agents.

Octacalcium phosphate ceramics combined with gingiva-derived stromal cells for engineered functional bone grafts.

Biocompatible ceramic fillers are capable of sustaining bone formation in the proper environment. The major drawback of these scaffolding materials is the absence of osteoinductivity. To overcome this limitation, bioengineered scaffolds combine osteoconductive components (biomaterials) with osteogenic features such as cells and growth factors.