Chinnasamy Gandhimathi

Mimicking Nanofibrous Hybrid Bone Substitute for Mesenchymal Stem Cells Differentiation into Osteogenesis

Mimicking hybrid extracellular matrix is one of the main challenges for bone tissue engineering (BTE). Biocompatible polycaprolactone/poly(α,β)-DL-aspartic acid/collagen nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning and nanohydroxyapatite (n-HA) was deposited by calcium phosphate dipping method for BTE. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were cultured on these hybrid scaffolds to investigate the cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation by alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, double immunofluorescent staining using CD90 and expression of osteocalcin. The present study indicated that the PCL/PAA/collagen/n-HA scaffolds promoted greater osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs, proving to be a potential hybrid scaffolds for BTE.

Biologically improved nanofibrous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering

Nanofibrous structure developed by electrospinning technology provides attractive extracellular matrix conditions for the anchorage, migration and differentiation of stem cells, including those responsible for regenerative medicine. Recently, biocomposite nanofibers consisting of two or more polymeric blends are electrospun more tidily in order to obtain scaffolds with desired functional and mechanical properties depending on their applications. The study focuses on one such an attempt of using copolymer Poly(l-lactic acid)-co-poly (ε-caprolactone) (PLACL), silk fibroin (SF) and Aloe Vera (AV) for fabricating biocomposite nanofibrous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering. SEM micrographs of fabricated electrospun PLACL, PLACL/SF and PLACL/SF/AV nanofibrous scaffolds are porous, beadless, uniform nanofibers with interconnected pores and obtained fibre diameter in the range of 459 ± 22 nm, 202 ± 12 nm and 188 ± 16 nm respectively. PLACL, PLACL/SF and PLACL/SF/AV electrospun mats obtained at room temperature with an elastic modulus of 14.1 ± 0.7, 9.96 ± 2.5 and 7.0 ± 0.9 MPa respectively. PLACL/SF/AV nanofibers have more desirable properties to act as flexible cell supporting scaffolds compared to PLACL for the repair of myocardial infarction (MI). The PLACL/SF and PLACL/SF/AV nanofibers had a contact angle of 51 ± 12° compared to that of 133 ± 15° of PLACL alone. Cardiac cell proliferation was increased by 21% in PLACL/SF/AV nanofibers compared to PLACL by day 6 and further increased to 42% by day 9. Confocal analysis for cardiac expression proteins myosin and connexin 43 was observed better by day 9 compared to all other nanofibrous scaffolds. The results proved that the fabricated PLACL/SF/AV nanofibrous scaffolds have good potentiality for the regeneration of infarcted myocardium in cardiac tissue engineering.

Controlled release of drugs in electrosprayed nanoparticles for bone tissue engineering

Generating porous topographic substrates, by mimicking the native extracellular matrix (ECM) to promote the regeneration of damaged bone tissues, is a challenging process. Generally, scaffolds developed for bone tissue regeneration support bone cell growth and induce bone-forming cells by natural proteins and growth factors. Limitations are often associated with these approaches such as improper scaffold stability, and insufficient cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization with less growth factor expression. Therefore, the use of engineered nanoparticles has been rapidly increasing in bone tissue engineering (BTE) applications. The electrospray technique is advantageous over other conventional methods as it generates nanomaterials of particle sizes in the micro/nanoscale range. The size and charge of the particles are controlled by regulating the polymer solution flow rate and electric voltage. The unique properties of nanoparticles such as large surface area-to-volume ratio, small size, and higher reactivity make them promising candidates in the field of biomedical engineering. These nanomaterials are extensively used as therapeutic agents and for drug delivery, mimicking ECM, and restoring and improving the functions of damaged organs. The controlled and sustained release of encapsulated drugs, proteins, vaccines, growth factors, cells, and nucleotides from nanoparticles has been well developed in nanomedicine. This review provides an insight into the preparation of nanoparticles by electrospraying technique and illustrates the use of nanoparticles in drug delivery for promoting bone tissue regeneration.

Biocomposite nanofibrous strategies for the controlled release of biomolecules for skin tissue regeneration.

Nanotechnology and tissue engineering have enabled engineering of nanostructured strategies to meet the current challenges in skin tissue regeneration. Electrospinning technology creates porous nanofibrous scaffolds to mimic extracellular matrix of the native tissues. The present study was performed to gain some insights into the applications of poly(l-lactic acid)-co-poly-(ε-caprolactone) (PLACL)/silk fibroin (SF)/vitamin E (VE)/curcumin (Cur) nanofibrous scaffolds and to assess their potential for being used as substrates for the culture of human dermal fibroblasts for skin tissue engineering. PLACL/SF/VE/Cur nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning and characterized by fiber morphology, membrane porosity, wettability, mechanical strength, and chemical properties by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Human dermal fibroblasts were cultured on these scaffolds, and the cell scaffold interactions were analyzed by cell proliferation, cell morphology, secretion of collagen, expression of F-actin, and 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA) dye. The electrospun nanofiber diameter was obtained between 198±4 nm and 332±13 nm for PLACL, PLACL/SF, PLACL/SF/VE, and PLACL/SF/VE/Cur nanofibrous scaffolds. FTIR analysis showed the presence of the amide groups I, II, and III, and a porosity of up to 92% obtained on these nanofibrous scaffolds. The results showed that the fibroblast proliferation, cell morphology, F-actin, CMFDA dye expression, and secretion of collagen were significantly increased in PLACL/SF/VE/Cur when compared to PLACL nanofibrous scaffolds. The accessibility of human dermal fibroblasts cultured on PLACL/SF/VE/Cur nanofibrous scaffolds proved to be a potential scaffold for skin tissue regeneration.

Biomimetic hybrid nanofibrous substrates for mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into osteogenic cells.

Mimicking native extracellular matrix with electrospun porous bio-composite nanofibrous scaffolds has huge potential in bone tissue regeneration. The aim of this study is to fabricate porous poly(l-lactic acid)-co-poly-(ε-caprolactone)/silk fibroin/ascorbic acid/tetracycline hydrochloride (PLACL/SF/AA/TC) and nanohydroxyapatite (n-HA) was deposited by calcium-phosphate dipping method for bone tissue engineering (BTE). Fabricated nanofibrous scaffolds were characterized for fiber morphology, hydrophilicity, porosity, mechanical test and chemical properties by FT-IR and EDX analysis. The results showed that the fiber diameter and pore size of scaffolds observed around 228±62-320±22nm and 1.5-6.9μm respectively. Resulting nanofibrous scaffolds are highly porous (87-94%) with ultimate tensile strength observed in the range of 1.51-4.86MPa and also showed better hydrophilic properties after addition of AA, TC and n-HA. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured on these bio-composite nanofibrous scaffolds and stimulated to osteogenic differentiation in the presence of AA/TC/n-HA for BTE. The cell proliferation and biomaterial interactions were studied using MTS assay, SEM and CMFDA dye exclusion methods. Osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was proven by using alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization and double immunofluorescence staining of both CD90 and osteocalcin. The observed results suggested that the fabricated PLACL/SF/AA/TC/n-HA biocomposite hybrid nanofibrous scaffolds have good potential for the differentiation of MSCs into osteogenesis for bone tissue engineering.

Highly Stable Bonding of Thiol Monolayers to Hydrogen-Terminated Si via Supercritical Carbon Dioxide: Toward a Super Hydrophobic and Bioresistant Surface

Oxide-free silicon chemistry has been widely studied using wet-chemistry methods, but for emerging applications such as molecular electronics on silicon, nanowire-based sensors, and biochips, these methods may not be suitable as they can give rise to defects due to surface contamination, residual solvents, which in turn can affect the grafted monolayer devices for practical applications. Therefore, there is a need for a cleaner, reproducible, scalable, and environmentally benign monolayer grafting process. In this work, monolayers of alkylthiols were deposited on oxide-free semiconductor surfaces using supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) as a carrier fluid owing to its favorable physical properties. The identity of grafted monolayers was monitored with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HRXPS), XPS, atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurements, and ellipsometry. Monolayers on oxide-free silicon were able to passivate the surface for more than 50 days (10 times than the conventional methods) without any oxide formation in ambient atmosphere. Application of the SCCO2 process was further extended by depositing alkylthiol monolayers on fragile and brittle 1D silicon nanowires (SiNWs) and 2D germanium substrates. With the recent interest in SiNWs for biological applications, the thiol-passivated oxide-free silicon nanowire surfaces were also studied for their biological response. Alkylthiol-functionalized SiNWs showed a significant decrease in cell proliferation owing to their superhydrophobicity combined with the rough surface morphology. Furthermore, tribological studies showed a sharp decrease in the coefficient of friction, which was found to be dependent on the alkyl chain length and surface bond. These studies can be used for the development of cost-effective and highly stable monolayers for practical applications such as solar cells, biosensors, molecular electronics, micro- and nano- electromechanical systems, antifouling agents, and drug delivery.

Minocycline Loaded Hybrid Composites Nanoparticles for Mesenchymal Stem Cells Differentiation into Osteogenesis

Bone transplants are used to treat fractures and increase new tissue development in bone tissue engineering. Grafting of massive implantations showing slow curing rate and results in cell death for poor vascularization. The potentials of biocomposite scaffolds to mimic extracellular matrix (ECM) and including new biomaterials could produce a better substitute for new bone tissue formation. A purpose of this study is to analyze polycaprolactone/silk fibroin/hyaluronic acid/minocycline hydrochloride (PCL/SF/HA/MH) nanoparticles initiate human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) proliferation and differentiation into osteogenesis. Electrospraying technique was used to develop PCL, PCL/SF, PCL/SF/HA and PCL/SF/HA/MH hybrid biocomposite nanoparticles and characterization was analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), contact angle and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The obtained results proved that the particle diameter and water contact angle obtained around 0.54 ± 0.12 to 3.2 ± 0.18 µm and 43.93 ± 10.8° to 133.1 ± 12.4° respectively. The cell proliferation and cell-nanoparticle interactions analyzed using (3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium inner salt) MTS assay (Promega, Madison, WI, USA), FESEM for cell morphology and 5-Chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA) dye for imaging live cells. Osteogenic differentiation was proved by expression of osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) and mineralization was confirmed by using alizarin red (ARS). The quantity of cells was considerably increased in PCL/SF/HA/MH nanoparticles when compare to all other biocomposite nanoparticles and the cell interaction was observed more on PCL/SF/HA/MH nanoparticles. The electrosprayed PCL/SF/HA/MH biocomposite nanoparticle significantly initiated increased cell proliferation, osteogenic differentiation and mineralization, which provide huge potential for bone tissue engineering.