Color Stability and Mechanical Properties of Two Commonly Used Silicone Elastomers with e-Skin and Reality Coloring Systems.

Purpose: To evaluate the color stability and mechanical properties of two commonly used maxillofacial silicone elastomers after addition of pigments and opacifiers and before and after artificial aging.

Materials And Methods: This study evaluated two maxillofacial silicone elastomers: A-2000 and M511. Two different pigment and opacifier systems (e-Skin and Reality Series) were used with the elastomers.

Conducting polymer-based multilayer films for instructive biomaterial coatings.

Aim: To demonstrate the design, fabrication and testing of conformable conducting biomaterials that encourage cell alignment.

Materials & Methods: Thin conducting composite biomaterials based on multilayer films of poly(3.4-ethylenedioxythiophene) derivatives, chitosan and gelatin were prepared in a layer-by-layer fashion.

Electrical stimulation of human mesenchymal stem cells on biomineralized conducting polymers enhances their differentiation towards osteogenic outcomes.

Tissue scaffolds allowing the behaviour of the cells that reside on them to be controlled are of particular interest for tissue engineering. Herein we describe biomineralized conducting polymer-based bone tissue scaffolds that facilitate the electrical stimulation of human mesenchymal stem cells, resulting in enhancement of their differentiation towards osteogenic outcomes.

Instructive Conductive 3D Silk Foam-Based Bone Tissue Scaffolds Enable Electrical Stimulation of Stem Cells for Enhanced Osteogenic Differentiation.

Stimuli-responsive materials enabling the behavior of the cells that reside within them to be controlled are vital for the development of instructive tissue scaffolds for tissue engineering. Herein, we describe the preparation of conductive silk foam-based bone tissue scaffolds that enable the electrical stimulation of human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSCs) to enhance their differentiation toward osteogenic outcomes.

Biodegradable electroactive polymers for electrochemically-triggered drug delivery.

We report biodegradable electroactive polymer (EAP)-based materials and their application as drug delivery devices. Copolymers composed of oligoaniline-based electroactive blocks linked to either polyethylene glycol or polycaprolactone blocks via ester bonds were synthesized in three steps from commercially available starting materials and isolated without the need for column chromatography. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties of the polymers were characterized with a variety of techniques.

Electric field stimulation through a biodegradable polypyrrole-co-polycaprolactone substrate enhances neural cell growth.

Nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) are FDA-approved devices used to bridge gaps across severed nerve cables and help direct axons sprouting from the proximal end toward the distal stump. In this article, we present the development of a novel electrically conductive, biodegradable NGC made from a polypyrrole-block-polycaprolactone (PPy-PCL) copolymer material laminated with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). The PPy-PCL has a bulk conductivity ranging 10-20 S/cm and loses 40 wt % after 7 months under physiologic conditions.

Electric field stimulation through a substrate influences Schwann cell and extracellular matrix structure.

Objective: Electric field (EF) stimulation has been used to cue cell growth for tissue engineering applications. In this study, we explore the electrical parameters and extracellular mechanisms that elicit changes in cell behavior when stimulated through the substrate.

Approach: Rat Schwann cell morphology was compared when exposed to EF through the media or a conductive indium tin oxide substrate.