Exploiting Pharma 4.0 Technologies in the Non-Biological Complex Drugs Manufacturing: Innovations and Implications.

The pharmaceutical industry has entered an era of transformation with the emergence of Pharma 4.0, which leverages cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing processes. These hold tremendous potential for enhancing the overall efficiency, safety, and quality of non-biological complex drugs (NBCDs), a category of pharmaceutical products that pose unique challenges due to their intricate composition and complex manufacturing requirements.

Cell-Membrane-Inspired Silicone Interfaces that Mitigate Proinflammatory Macrophage Activation and Bacterial Adhesion.

Biofouling on silicone implants causes serious complications such as fibrotic encapsulation, bacterial infection, and implant failure. Here we report the development of antifouling, antibacterial silicones through covalent grafting with a cell-membrane-inspired zwitterionic gel layer composed of 2-methacryolyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). To investigate how substrate properties influence cell adhesion, we cultured human-blood-derived macrophages and Escherichia coli on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and MPC gel surfaces with a range of 0.

Anti-oxidant and immune-modulatory properties of sulfated alginate derivatives on human chondrocytes and macrophages.

Degeneration of articular cartilage represents one of the most common causes of pain and disability in our aging society. Current treatments only address the symptoms of joint disease, but not their underlying causes which include oxidative stress and inflammation in cartilage and surrounding tissues. Sulfated biopolymers that mimic aspects of the native extracellular environment of cartilage are recently gaining interest as a means to slow the inflammatory events responsible for tissue degeneration.

Harvesting pre-polarized macrophages using thermo-responsive substrates.

In the cell culture environment macrophages are highly adherent cells. Currently used methods to harvest macrophages have the disadvantage of reducing cell viability and their ability to re-attach after seeding. Although thermo-responsive surfaces have been employed to harvest cell sheets no reports are available to use these to harvest (pre-polarized) macrophages.

Macrophage Polarization by Titanium Dioxide (TiO) Particles: Size Matters.

Wear particles of total joint replacements may lead to an inflammatory response driven by cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage. Today, there is a general agreement that the continuous release of wear particles by the implant has a critical impact on periprosthetic osteolysis, which can eventually lead to aseptic loosening of the implant. The focus of this study lay on the determination of the polarization of macrophages (M0) toward the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype or the anti-inflammatory M2-like phenotype upon exposure to differently sized TiO particles.

The influence of nanostructured features on bacterial adhesion and bone cell functions on severely shot peened 316L stainless steel.

Substrate grain structure and topography play major roles in mediating cell and bacteria activities. Severe plastic deformation techniques, known as efficient metal-forming and grain refining processes, provide the treated material with novel mechanical properties and can be adopted to modify nanoscale surface characteristics, possibly affecting interactions with the biological environment. This in vitro study evaluates the capability of severe shot peening, based on severe plastic deformation, to modulate the interactions of nanocrystallized metallic biomaterials with cells and bacteria.

Osteoblast and monocyte responses to 444 ferritic stainless steel intended for a magneto-mechanically actuated fibrous scaffold.

The rationale behind this work is to design an implant device, based on a ferromagnetic material, with the potential to deform in vivo promoting osseointegration through the growth of a healthy periprosthetic bone structure. One of the primary requirements for such a device is that the material should be non-inflammatory and non-cytotoxic. In the study described here, we assessed the short-term cellular response to 444 ferritic stainless steel; a steel, with a very low interstitial content and a small amount of strong carbide-forming elements to enhance intergranular corrosion resistance.

New poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/chitosan blend fibers for tissue engineering applications.

This study reports for the first time on the production of poly(epsilon-caprolactone)/chitosan blend fibers for future application as tissue engineering scaffolds. Fibers of chitosan and poly(epsilon-caprolactone) were prepared by wet spinning from blend solutions, using a formic acid/acetone 70:30vol.% mixture as common solvent and methanol as coagulant.