For many years it has been a major challenge to regenerate damaged tissues using synthetic or natural materials. To favor the healing processes after tendon, cornea, muscle, or brain injuries, aligned collagen-based architectures are of utmost interest. In this study, we define a novel aligned coating based on a collagen/alginate (COL/ALG) multilayer film. The coating exhibiting a nanofibrillar structure is cross-linked with genipin for stability in physiological conditions. By stretching COL/ALG-coated polydimethylsiloxane substrates, we developed a versatile method to align the collagen fibrils of the polymeric coating. Assays on cell morphology and alignment were performed to investigate the properties of these films. Microscopic assessments revealed that cells align with the stretched collagen fibrils of the coating. The degree of alignment is tuned by the stretching rate (i.e., the strain) of the COL/ALG-coated elastic substrate. Such coatings are of great interest for strategies that require aligned nanofibrillar biological material as a substrate for tissue engineering.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ten.TEC.2014.0479 | DOI Listing |
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Organoid Research Center, Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, People's Republic of China.
Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by decreased bone mineral density and a heightened risk of fractures. Therapies for OP have primarily focused on balancing bone formation and bone resorption, but enhancing the remineralization of osteoporotic bone is also a key strategy for effective repair. Recent insights into biomineralization mechanisms have highlighted the essential role of mineral-containing extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by osteoblasts in promoting bone marrow mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (BMSC) differentiation and initiating matrix mineralization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeerJ
January 2025
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Background: Achilles tendinopathy (AT) management can be difficult, given the paucity of effective treatment options and the degenerative nature of the condition. Innovative therapies for Achilles tendinopathy are therefore direly needed. New therapeutic developments predominantly begin with preclinical animal and in vitro studies to understand the effects at the molecular level and to evaluate toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMatrix Biol
February 2025
Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. Electronic address:
Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) are the end result of the irreversible, non-enzymatic glycation of proteins by reducing sugars. These chemical modifications accumulate with age and have been associated with various age-related and diabetic complications. AGEs predominantly accumulate on proteins with slow turnover rates, of which collagen is a prime example.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Biomater
January 2025
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address:
Hydrogels composed of collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body, are widely used as scaffolds for tissue engineering due to their ability to support cellular activity. However, collagen hydrogels with encapsulated cells often experience bulk contraction due to cell-generated forces, and conventional strategies to mitigate this undesired deformation often compromise either the fibrillar microstructure or cytocompatibility of the collagen. To support the spreading of encapsulated cells while preserving the structural integrity of the gels, we present an interpenetrating network (IPN) of two distinct collagen networks with different crosslinking mechanisms and microstructures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater
January 2025
The Laboratory of Orthopaedic Tissue Regeneration & Orthobiologics, Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA.
The formation of fibrocartilage in microfracture (MFX) severely limits its long-term outlook. There is consensus in the scientific community that the placement of an appropriate scaffold in the MFX defect site can promote hyaline cartilage formation and improve therapeutic benefit. Accordingly, in this work, a novel natural biomaterial-the cartilage analog (CA)-which met criteria favorable for chondrogenesis, was evaluated in vitro to determine its candidacy as a potential MFX scaffold.
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