Evaluation of viscoelastic parameters and photo-based assessment of newly developed dermal substitutes modified with thermostabilized fibroblast growth factor 2.

Background: The purpose of dermal substitutes is to mimic the basic properties of the extracellular matrix of human skin. The application of dermal substitutes to the defect reduces the formation of hypertrophic scars and improves the scar quality. This study aims to develop an original dermal substitute enriched with stable fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2-STAB®) and test it in an animal model.

Healing and Angiogenic Properties of Collagen/Chitosan Scaffolds Enriched with Hyperstable FGF2-STAB Protein: In Vitro, Ex Ovo and In Vivo Comprehensive Evaluation.

Wound healing is a process regulated by a complex interaction of multiple growth factors including fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). Although FGF2 appears in several tissue engineered studies, its applications are limited due to its low stability both in vitro and in vivo. Here, this shortcoming is overcome by a unique nine-point mutant of the low molecular weight isoform FGF2 retaining full biological activity even after twenty days at 37 °C.

Synergistic effect of bovine platelet lysate and various polysaccharides on the biological properties of collagen-based scaffolds for tissue engineering: Scaffold preparation, chemo-physical characterization, in vitro and ex ovo evaluation.

Crosslinked 3D porous collagen-polysaccharide scaffolds, prepared by freeze-drying, were modified with bovine platelet lysate (BPL) and evaluated in terms of chemical, physical and biological properties. Natural antibacterial polysaccharides like chitosan, chitin/chitosan-glucan complex and calcium salt of oxidized cellulose (CaOC) incorporated in collagen scaffolds affected not only chemo-physical properties of the composite scaffolds but also improved their biological properties, especially when BPL was presented. Lipophilic BPL formed microspheres in porous scaffolds while reduced by half their swelling ratio.

Accurate micro-computed tomography imaging of pore spaces in collagen-based scaffold.

In this work we have used X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) as a method to observe the morphology of 3D porous pure collagen and collagen-composite scaffolds useful in tissue engineering. Two aspects of visualizations were taken into consideration: improvement of the scan and investigation of its sensitivity to the scan parameters. Due to the low material density some parts of collagen scaffolds are invisible in a μCT scan.