Egg White Photocrosslinkable Hydrogels as Versatile Bioinks for Advanced Tissue Engineering Applications.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting using photocrosslinkable hydrogels has gained considerable attention due to its versatility in various applications, including tissue engineering and drug delivery. Egg White (EW) is an organic biomaterial with excellent potential in tissue engineering. It provides abundant proteins, along with biocompatibility, bioactivity, adjustable mechanical properties, and intrinsic antiviral and antibacterial features.

Development of silk microfiber-reinforced bioink for muscle tissue engineering and in situ printing by a handheld 3D printer.

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) presents a significant challenge in tissue engineering due to the irreparable nature of extensive muscle injuries. In this study, we propose a novel approach for VML treatment using a bioink composed of silk microfiber-reinforced silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel. The engineered scaffolds are predesigned to provide structural support and fiber alignment to promote tissue regeneration in situ.

Granular Porous Nanofibrous Microspheres Enhance Cellular Infiltration for Diabetic Wound Healing.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a significant challenge in the clinical care of diabetic patients, often necessitating limb amputation and compromising the quality of life and life expectancy of this cohort. Minimally invasive therapies, such as modular scaffolds, are at the forefront of current DFU treatment, offering an efficient approach for administering therapeutics that accelerate tissue repair and regeneration. In this study, we report a facile method for fabricating granular nanofibrous microspheres (NMs) with predesigned structures and porosities.

Current and Future Directions in Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Debridement.

Sterility and reduction of the bioburden are crucial for healing in chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers. Although there are methods for measuring bioburdens, such as semiquantitative analysis of swab/biopsy samples, microbiological sampling, and molecular diagnostics, these tools are less accessible owing to costs or not being as quick as other methods. These methods are also dependent on clinical assessment by the clinician, and high bacterial burden may appear asymptomatic.

Decellularized extracellular matrix-decorated 3D nanofiber scaffolds enhance cellular responses and tissue regeneration.

The use of decellularized extracellular matrix products in tissue regeneration is quite alluring yet practically challenging due to the limitations of its availability, harsh processing techniques, and host rejection. Scaffolds obtained by either incorporating extracellular matrix (ECM) material or coating the surface can resolve these challenges to some extent. However, these scaffolds lack the complex 3D network formed by proteins and growth factors observed in natural ECM.

Copper-Cystine Biohybrid-Embedded Nanofiber Aerogels Show Antibacterial and Angiogenic Properties.

Copper-cystine-based high aspect ratio structures (CuHARS) possess exceptional physical and chemical properties and exhibit remarkable biodegradability in human physiological conditions. Extensive testing has confirmed the biocompatibility and biodegradability of CuHARS under diverse biological conditions, making them a viable source of essential Cu. These ions are vital for catalyzing the production of nitric oxide (NO) from the decomposition of S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs) found in human blood.

Development of bioactive short fiber-reinforced printable hydrogels with tunable mechanical and osteogenic properties for bone repair.

Personalized bone-regenerative materials have attracted substantial interest in recent years. Modern clinical settings demand the use of engineered materials incorporating patient-derived cells, cytokines, antibodies, and biomarkers to enhance the process of regeneration. In this work, we formulated short microfiber-reinforced hydrogels with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to engineer implantable multi-material core-shell bone grafts.

Mechanically resilient hybrid aerogels containing fibers of dual-scale sizes and knotty networks for tissue regeneration.

The structure and design flexibility of aerogels make them promising for soft tissue engineering, though they tend to come with brittleness and low elasticity. While increasing crosslinking density may improve mechanics, it also imparts brittleness. In soft tissue engineering, resilience against mechanical loads from mobile tissues is paramount.

Anti-Inflammatory Peptide-Conjugated Silk Fibroin/Cryogel Hybrid Dual Fiber Scaffold with Hierarchical Structure Promotes Healing of Chronic Wounds.

Chronic wounds resulting from diabetes, pressure, radiation therapy, and other factors continue to pose significant challenges in wound healing. To address this, this study introduces a novel hybrid fibroin fibrous scaffold (FFS) comprising randomly arranged fibroin fibers and vertically aligned cryogel fibers (CFs). The fibroin scaffold is efficiently degummed at room temperature and simultaneously formed a porous structure.

New dimensions of electrospun nanofiber material designs for biotechnological uses.

Electrospinning technology has garnered wide attention over the past few decades in various biomedical applications including drug delivery, cell therapy, and tissue engineering. This technology can create nanofibers with tunable fiber diameters and functionalities. However, the 2D membrane nature of the nanofibers, as well as the rigidity and low porosity of electrospun fibers, lower their efficacy in tissue repair and regeneration.

Biomimetic natural biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: new biosynthesis methods, recent advances, and emerging applications.

Biomimetic materials have emerged as attractive and competitive alternatives for tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine. In contrast to conventional biomaterials or synthetic materials, biomimetic scaffolds based on natural biomaterial can offer cells a broad spectrum of biochemical and biophysical cues that mimic the in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM). Additionally, such materials have mechanical adaptability, microstructure interconnectivity, and inherent bioactivity, making them ideal for the design of living implants for specific applications in TE and regenerative medicine.

Nanofiber Aerogels with Precision Macrochannels and LL-37-Mimic Peptides Synergistically Promote Diabetic Wound Healing.

Fast healing of diabetic wounds remains a major clinical challenge. Herein, this work reports a strategy to combine nanofiber aerogels containing precision macrochannels and the LL-37-mimic peptide W379 for rapid diabetic wound healing. Nanofiber aerogels consisting of poly(glycolide--lactide) (PGLA 90:10)/gelatin and poly--dioxanone (PDO)/gelatin short electrospun fiber segments were prepared by partially anisotropic freeze-drying, crosslinking, and sacrificial templating with three-dimensional (3D)-printed meshes, exhibiting nanofibrous architecture and precision micro-/macrochannels.

Thermoresponsive shear-thinning hydrogel (T-STH) hemostats for minimally invasive treatment of external hemorrhages.

Hemorrhage is the leading cause of death following battlefield injuries. Although several hemostats are commercially available, they do not meet all the necessary requirements to stop bleeding in combat injuries. Here, we engineer thermoresponsive shear-thinning hydrogels (T-STH) composed of a thermoresponsive polymer, poly(-isopropyl acrylamide) (p(NIPAM)), and hemostatic silicate nanodisks, LAPONITE®, as minimally invasive injectable hemostatic agents.

Extracellular Matrix Secretion Mechanically Reinforces Interlocking Interfaces.

Drawing inspiration for biomaterials from biological systems has led to many biomedical innovations. One notable bioinspired device, Velcro, consists of two substrates with interlocking ability. Generating reversibly interlocking biomaterials is an area of investigation, as such devices can allow for modular tissue engineering, reversibly interlocking biomaterial interfaces, or friction-based coupling devices.

Recent advances in biopolymer-based hemostatic materials.

Hemorrhage is the leading cause of trauma-related deaths, in hospital and prehospital settings. Hemostasis is a complex mechanism that involves a cascade of clotting factors and proteins that result in the formation of a strong clot. In certain surgical and emergency situations, hemostatic agents are needed to achieve faster blood coagulation to prevent the patient from experiencing a severe hemorrhagic shock.

Electrospun Nanofibers for Wound Management.

Electrospun nanofibers show great potential in biomedical applications. This mini review article traces the recent advances in electrospun nanofibers for wound management various approaches. Initially, we provide a short note on the four phases of wound healing, including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling.

Engineered Exosomes Containing Cathelicidin/LL-37 Exhibit Multiple Biological Functions.

Exosomes show great potential in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Inspired by the human innate immune defense, herein, we report engineered exosomes derived from monocytic cells treated with immunomodulating compounds 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and CYP24A1 inhibitor VID400 which are slowly released from electrospun nanofiber matrices. These engineered exosomes contain significantly more cathelicidin/LL-37 when compared with exosomes derived from either untreated cells or Cathelicidin Human Tagged ORF Clone transfected cells.

Cellulose-based composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering and localized drug delivery.

Natural bone constitutes a complex and organized structure of organic and inorganic components with limited ability to regenerate and restore injured tissues, especially in large bone defects. To improve the reconstruction of the damaged bones, tissue engineering has been introduced as a promising alternative approach to the conventional therapeutic methods including surgical interventions using allograft and autograft implants. Bioengineered composite scaffolds consisting of multifunctional biomaterials in combination with the cells and bioactive therapeutic agents have great promise for bone repair and regeneration.

Nanofiber capsules for minimally invasive sampling of biological specimens from gastrointestinal tract.

Accurate and rapid point-of-care tissue and microbiome sampling is critical for early detection of cancers and infectious diseases and often result in effective early intervention and prevention of disease spread. In particular, the low prevalence of Barrett's and gastric premalignancy in the Western world makes population-based endoscopic screening unfeasible and cost-ineffective. Herein, we report a method that may be useful for prescreening the general population in a minimally invasive way using a swallowable, re-expandable, ultra-absorbable, and retrievable nanofiber cuboid and sphere produced by electrospinning, gas-foaming, coating, and crosslinking.

Understanding and utilizing textile-based electrostatic flocking for biomedical applications.

Electrostatic flocking immobilizes electrical charges to the surface of microfibers from a high voltage-connected electrode and utilizes Coulombic forces to propel microfibers toward an adhesive-coated substrate, leaving a forest of aligned fibers. This traditional textile engineering technique has been used to modify surfaces or to create standalone anisotropic structures. Notably, a small body of evidence validating the use of electrostatic flocking for biomedical applications has emerged over the past several years.

Electrostatic flocking of salt-treated microfibers and nanofiber yarns for regenerative engineering.

Electrostatic flocking is a textile technology that employs a Coulombic driving force to launch short fibers from a charging source towards an adhesive-covered substrate, resulting in a dense array of aligned fibers perpendicular to the substrate. However, electrostatic flocking of insulative polymeric fibers remains a challenge due to their insufficient charge accumulation. We report a facile method to flock electrostatically insulative poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfibers (MFs) and electrospun PCL nanofiber yarns (NFYs) by incorporating NaCl during pre-flock processing.

3D Hybrid Nanofiber Aerogels Combining with Nanoparticles Made of a Biocleavable and Targeting Polycation and MiR-26a for Bone Repair.

The healing of large bone defects represents a clinical challenge, often requiring some form of grafting. Three-dimensional (3D) nanofiber aerogels could be a promising bone graft due to their biomimetic morphology and controlled porous structures and composition. miR-26a has been reported to induce the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and facilitate bone formation.

Electrostatic Flocking of Insulative and Biodegradable Polymer Microfibers for Biomedical Applications.

Electrostatic flocking, a textile engineering technique, uses Coulombic driving forces to propel conductive microfibers toward an adhesive-coated substrate, leaving a forest of aligned fibers. Though an easy way to induce anisotropy along a surface, this technique is limited to microfibers capable of accumulating charge. This study reports a novel method, utilizing principles from the percolation theory to make electrically insulative polymeric microfibers flockable.