Sharif Digital Repository

Nanofibrous structures mimicking the native extracellular matrix have attracted considerable attention for biomedical applications. The present study aims to design and produce drug-eluting core-shell fibrous scaffolds for wound healing and skin tissue engineering. Aloe vera extracts were encapsulated inside polymer fibers containing chitosan, polycaprolactone, and keratin using the co-axial electrospinning technique. Electron microscopic studies show that continuous and uniform fibers with an average diameter of 209 ± 47 nm were successfully fabricated. The fibers have a core-shell structure with a shell thickness of about 90 nm, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. By... 

Myocardial infarction is a major cause of death worldwide and remains a social and healthcare burden. Injectable hydrogels with the ability to locally deliver drugs or cells to the damaged area can revolutionize the treatment of heart diseases. Herein, we formulate a thermo-responsive and injectable hydrogel based on conjugated chitosan/poloxamers for cardiac repair. To tailor the mechanical properties and electrical signal transmission, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with an average diameter of 50 nm were physically bonded to oxidized bacterial nanocellulose fibers (OBC) and added to the thermosensitive hydrogel at the ratio of 1% w/v. The prepared hydrogels have a porous structure with open... 

Controlling topographic features at all length scales is of great importance for the interaction of cells with tissue regenerative materials. We utilized an indirect three-dimensional printing method to fabricate polymeric scaffolds with pre-defined and controlled external and internal architecture that had an interconnected structure with macro- (400-500 μm) and micro- (∼25 μm) porosity. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was used as model system to study the kinetics of tissue growth within porous scaffolds. The surface of the scaffolds was decorated with TiO2 and bioactive glass (BG) nanoparticles to the better match to nanoarchitecture of extracellular matrix (ECM). Micrometric BG particles were... 

Design and development of biodegradable scaffolds with highly uniform and controlled internal structure that stimulate tissue regeneration are the focus of many studies. The aim of this work is to apply a modified three-dimensional (3D) printing process to fabricate polymer-matrix composites with controlled internal architecture. Computationally-designed plaster molds with various pore sizes in the range of 300-800. μm were prepared by employing 3D printing of a water-based binder. The molds were converted to ε-polycaprolactone (PCL) and PCL/bioactive glass (BG) composite scaffolds by solvent casting and freeze drying methods. Optical and electron microscopy studies revealed that the pore... 

The fabrication of a suitable scaffold material is one of the major challenges for bone tissue engineering. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most favorable matrix materials in bone tissue engineering owing to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, PLA suffers from some shortcomings including low degradation rate, low cell adhesion caused by its hydrophobic property, and inflammatory reactions in vivo due to its degradation product, lactic acid. Therefore, the incorporation of bioactive reinforcements is considered as a powerful method to improve the properties of PLA. This review presents a comprehensive study on recent advances in the synthesis of PLA-based biocomposites... 

Cartilage is an avascular tissue with limited self-repair ability. Since the methods for treatment of cartilage defects have not been effective, new therapies based on tissue engineering are considered over the recent years. In this study, human cartilage tissue was decellularized and porous injectable microcarriers (MCs) composed of acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage tissue and chitosan (CS), with different ECM weight ratios, were fabricated by electrospraying technique to be used in the treatment of articular cartilage defects. Various properties of ECM/CS MCs such as microstructure, mechanical strength, water uptake behaviour, and biodegradability rate were investigated.... 

This review covers the most recent developments of inorganic and organic-inorganic composite coatings for orthopedic implants, providing the interface with living tissue and with potential for drug delivery to combat infections. Conventional systemic delivery of drugs is an inefficient procedure that may cause toxicity and may require a patient's hospitalization for monitoring. Local delivery of antibiotics and other bioactive molecules maximizes their effect where they are required, reduces potential systemic toxicity and increases timeliness and cost efficiency. In addition, local delivery has broad applications in combating infection-related diseases. Polymeric coatings may present some... 

The main focus of this study is to address the possibility of using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, as a computational framework, coupled with experimental assays, to optimize composite structures of a particular electrospun scaffold. To this aim, first, MD simulations were performed to obtain an initial theoretical insight into the capability of heterogeneous surfaces for protein adsorption. The surfaces were composed of six different blends of PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and PCL (polycaprolactone) with completely unlike hydrophobicity. Next, MTT assay was performed on the electrospun scaffolds made from the same percentages of polymers as in MD models to gain an understanding of the... 

During any microbial enhanced oil recovery process, both cells and the metabolic products of bacteria govern the tertiary oil recovery efficiency. However, very accurate examination is needed to find the functionality of these tiny creatures at different reservoir conditions. In this regard, the effect of cell structure on ultimate microbial recovery efficiency which is the most dominant mechanism based on the microorganism types (gram-negative or gram-positive) was systematically investigated. At the first stage, possible different active mechanisms using Bacillus stearothermophilus SUCPM#14 strain were tested using specially designed injection protocol, in situ and ex situ core flooding... 

In this paper an analytical approach to study the effect of the substrate physical properties on the kinetics of adhesion and motility behavior of cells is presented. Cell adhesion is mediated by the binding of cell wall receptors and substrate's complementary ligands, and tight adhesion is accomplished by the recruitment of the cell wall binders to the adhesion zone. The binders' movement is modeled as their axisymmetric diffusion in the fluid-like cell membrane. In order to preserve the thermodynamic consistency, the energy balance for the cell-substrate interaction is imposed on the diffusion equation. Solving the axisymmetric diffusion-energy balance coupled equations, it turns out that... 

Medical engineering advances in total joint replacements and societies’ rising demand for long-lasting materials have proven it essential to manufacture materials that are more similar to the original tissue in the fields of mechanical, tribological, and biological properties. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a polymer widely used in arthroplasty applications due to its biocompatibility, chemical stability, and reasonable mechanical properties; however, it still fails to entirely meet the standards of the hip joint implant. In this study, different concentrations of nanosized zirconia were added to UHMWPE and HAp matrix with an intended application in arthroplasty.... 

Medical engineering advances in total joint replacements and societies’ rising demand for long-lasting materials have proven it essential to manufacture materials that are more similar to the original tissue in the fields of mechanical, tribological, and biological properties. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a polymer widely used in arthroplasty applications due to its biocompatibility, chemical stability, and reasonable mechanical properties; however, it still fails to entirely meet the standards of the hip joint implant. In this study, different concentrations of nanosized zirconia were added to UHMWPE and HAp matrix with an intended application in arthroplasty.... 

In order to fabricate nanofiber scaffold for bone tissue engineering, electrospinning technique was employed. This technique produces nanofiberous scaffold supporting cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Here, we developed a novel conductive scaffold from poly-caprolactone, gelatin, and poly aniline/graphene nanoparticles. In this study, co-electrospinning was utilized to fabricate composite electrospun scaffold. The effect of polyaniline/graphene (PAG) nanoparticles on the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of this hybrid scaffold was investigated. The result showed that PAG nanoparticles enbance both mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the scaffolds.... 

Nd:YAG laser treatment was used in order to increase surface cell adhesion aspects of polycarbonate (PC) films prepared via melt process. The treatment was carried out under different wavelengths and beam diameters. ATR-FTIR and UV spectra obtained from different samples before and after laser treatment in air showed that laser irradiation has induced some chemical and physical changes in surface properties. The irradiated films were also characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle measurements. Effect of pulse numbers on the surface properties was also investigated. Cell culture test was used to evaluate cell adhesion property on the PC films before and after... 

Two main origins of failure for hard tissue replacements are structural loosening and prosthetic implant infections (PIIs). Bioinspired multifunctional TiO2 hierarchical micro/nanostructures of conical-shaped TiO2 (CTO), regular TiO2 nanotubes (RTO) and irregular TiO2 nanotubes (ITO) with tunable improved cell growth and inhibited bacteria adhesion were synthesized. CTO and ITO samples indicated superhydrophilicity with contact angles of less than 5°. The MTT assay demonstrated excellent biological performance for RTO and CTO sample with 98.1% and 103.1% of cell viability, respectively. The bridging force for osteoblast cell attachment onto the synthesized porous coatings was presented as a... 

Designing multifunctional surfaces is key to develop advanced materials for orthopedic applications. In this study, we design a double-layer coating, assembled onto the completely regular titania nanotubes (cRTNT) array. Benefiting from the biological and topological characteristics of chitosan nanofibers (CH) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) through a unique assembly, the designed material features promoted osteoblast cell viability, prolonged antibiotic release profile, as well as inhibited bacterial biofilm formation. The synergistic effect of RGO and CH on the biological performance of the surface is investigatSed. The unique morphology of the nanofibers leads to the partial coverage of... 

The most common reasons for hard-tissue implant failure are structural loosening and prosthetic infections. Hence, in this study, to overcome the first problem, different bioinspired coatings, including dual acid-etched, anodic TiO2 nanotubes array, anodic hierarchical titanium oxide (HO), micro- and nanostructured hydroxyapatite (HA) layers, and HA/chitosan (HA/CS) nanocomposite, were applied to the titanium alloy surfaces. X-ray diffraction and FTIR analysis demonstrated that the in situ HA/CS nanocomposite formed successfully. The MTT assay showed that all samples had excellent cell viability, with cell proliferation rates ranging from 120% to 150% after 10 days. The HO coating... 

The design of advanced nanobiomaterials to improve analytical accuracy and therapeutic efficacy has become an important prerequisite for the development of innovative nanomedicines. Recently, phospholipid nanobiomaterials including 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) have attracted great attention with remarkable characteristics such as resistance to nonspecific protein adsorption and cell adhesion for various biomedical applications. Despite many recent reports, there is a lack of comprehensive review on the phospholipid nanobiomaterials from synthesis to diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Here, we review the synthesis and characterization of phospholipid nanobiomaterials...