Publications by authors named "Jovana Zvicer"

In tissue engineering, collaboration among experts from different fields is needed to design appropriate cell scaffolds and the required three-dimensional environment. Osteochondral tissue engineering is particularly challenging due to the need to provide scaffolds that imitate structural and compositional differences between two neighboring tissues, articular cartilage and bone, and the required complex biophysical environments for cultivating such scaffolds. This work focuses on two key objectives: first, to develop bilayered osteochondral scaffolds based on gellan gum and bioactive glass and, second, to create a biomimetic environment for scaffold characterization by designing and utilizing novel dual-medium cultivation bioreactor chambers.

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In the present study, we synthesized hydroxyapatite (HAP) powders followed by the production of alginate based macroporous scaffolds with the aim to imitate the natural bone structure. HAP powders were synthesized by using a hydrothermal method, and after calcination, dominant phases in the powders, undoped and doped with Mg were HAP and β-tricalcium phosphate, respectively. Upon mixing with Na-alginate, followed by gelation and freeze-dying, highly macroporous composite scaffolds were obtained with open and connected pores and uniformly dispersed mineral phase as determined by scanning electron microscopy.

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Nanocomposite hydrogels that contain silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are especially attractive for various biomedical applications (e.g., antimicrobial wound dressings, coatings and soft tissue implants) due to strong antimicrobial activity of released silver nanoparticles and/or ions over prolonged times.

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In this work, functional characterization of biomaterials concerning potential application as articular cartilage implants was performed by using a biomimetic bioreactor with dynamic compression in the physiological regime (10% strain, 0.84 Hz frequency, 1 h on/1 h off). Specifically, two alginate types with low (LG) and high (HG) guluronic/mannuronic residue ratios with electrochemically synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were evaluated.

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Intervertebral discs are normally exposed to a variety of loads and stresses but hydrostatic pressure (HP) could be the main biosignal for chondrogenic cell differentiation and maintenance of this tissue. Although there are simple approaches to intermittently expose cell cultures to HP in separate material testing devices, utilization of biomimetic bioreactors aiming to provide in vitro conditions mimicking those found in vivo, attracts special attention. However, design of such bioreactors is complex due to the requirement of high HP magnitudes (up to 3 MPa) applied in different regimes mimicking pressures arising in intervertebral disc during normal daily activities.

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