Diabetes is associated with an altered global inflammatory state with impaired wound healing. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) are being explored for treatment of diabetic cutaneous wounds due to their regenerative properties. These cells are commonly delivered by injection, but the need to prolong the retention of MSC at sites of injury has spurred the development of biomaterial-based MSC delivery vehicles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a facile strategy to identify sites for the incorporation of noncanonical amino acids into lysostaphin-an enzyme that degrades the cell wall of Staphylococcus aureus-while retaining stapholytic activity. We used this strategy to generate active variants of lysostaphin incorporating para-azidophenylalanine. The incorporation of this "reactive handle" enabled the orthogonal site-specific modification of the enzyme variants with polyethylene glycol (PEG) using copper-free click cycloaddition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDue to the particular structure and functionality of the placenta, most current human placenta drug testing methods are limited to animal models, conventional cell testing, and cohort/controlled testing. Previous studies have produced inconsistent results due to physiological differences between humans and animals and limited availability of human and/or animal models for controlled testing. To overcome these challenges, a placenta-on-a-chip system is developed for studying the exchange of substances to and from the placenta.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis the most common pathogen associated with bacterial infections in orthopedic procedures. Infections often lead to implant failure and subsequent removal, motivating the development of bifunctional materials that both promote repair and prevent failure due to infection. Lysostaphin is an anti-staphylococcal enzyme resulting in bacterial lysis and biofilm reduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncreased use of implantable biomedical devices demonstrates their potential in treating a wide variety of ailments and disorders in bone trauma and orthopaedic, reconstructive, and craniofacial applications. However, the number of cases involving implant failure or malfunction due to bacterial infection have also increased in recent years. Implanted devices can facilitate the growth of bacteria as these micro-organisms have the potential to adhere to the implant and grow and develop to form biofilms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, the exploitation of phenomena surrounding microfluidics has seen an increase in popularity, as researchers have found a way to use their unique properties to create superior design alternatives. One such application is representing the properties and functions of different organs on a microscale chip for the purpose of drug testing or tissue engineering. With the introduction of "organ-on-a-chip" systems, researchers have proposed various methods on various organ-on-a-chip systems to mimic their in vivo counterparts.
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