Insup Noh

Characterization of low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel and differential stem cell responses in the hydrogel microenvironments

Hyaluronic acid is a natural glycosaminoglycan involved in biological processes. Low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid (10 and 50 kDa)-based hydrogel was synthesized using derivatized hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid was acrylated by two steps: (1) introduction of an amine group using adipic acid dihydrazide, and (2) acrylation by N-acryloxysuccinimide. Injectable hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel was prepared by using acrylated hyaluronic acid and poly(ethylene glycol) tetra-thiols via Michael-type addition reaction. Mechanical properties of the hydrogel were evaluated by varying the molecular weight of acrylated hyaluronic acid (10 and 50 kDa) and the weight percent of hydrogel. Hydrogel based on 50-kDa hyaluronic acid showed the shortest gelation time and the highest complex modulus. Next, human mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in cell-adhesive RGD peptide-immobilized hydrogels together with bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2). Cells cultured in the RGD/BMP-2-incorporated hydrogels showed proliferation rates higher than that of control or RGD-immobilized hydrogels. Real-time RT-PCR showed that the expression of osteoblast marker genes such as CBFalpha1 and alkaline phosphatase was increased in hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel, and the expression level was dependent on the molecular weight of hyaluronic acid, RGD peptide, and BMP-2. This study indicates that low-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel can be applied to tissue regeneration as differentiation guidance materials of stem cells.

In vitro response of primary human bone marrow stromal cells to recombinant human bone morphogenic protein-2 in the early and late stages of osteoblast differentiation.

A number of factors must be added to human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) in vitro to induce osteogenesis, including ascorbic acid (AA), β‐glycerophosphate (GP), and dexamethasone (Dex). Bone morphogenic protein (BMP)‐2 is an osteoinductive factor that can commit stromal cells to differentiate into osteoblasts. However, it is still not clear whether the addition of BMP‐2 alone in vitro can induce hBMSCs to complete osteoblast differentiation, resulting in matrix mineralization. This study compares the effects of BMP‐2 and Dex, alone and combined, on the early and late stages of hBMSC differentiation. We found that BMP‐2 causes a significant induction of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in hBMSCs, with a transcriptional upregulation of known BMP‐2‐responsive genes, and the stable expression of cbfa1 in the nucleus and the regions surrounding the nucleus in the early phase of osteoblast differentiation. However, continuous treatment with BMP‐2 alone at doses ranging from 100 to 300 ng/mL results in a less efficient enhancement of in vitro matrix mineralization, despite a significant induction of ALP activity at a concentration of 100 ng/mL. Our results reflect how the effects of BMP‐2 on hBMSCs can vary depending on the stage of osteoblast differentiation, and highlight the need to understand the role of BMP‐2 in primary hBMSCs derived from diverse sources in order to increase the efficiency of using BMP‐2 in osteoinductive therapies.

Effects of cross-linking molecular weights in a hyaluronic acid–poly(ethylene oxide) hydrogel network on its properties

We examined the effects of cross-linking molecular weights on the properties of a hyaluronic acid (HA)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) hydrogel. Swelling behaviors, mechanical strength and rheological behaviors of the HA-PEO hydrogel were evaluated by employing different cross-linking molecular weights (100 kDa and 1.63 mDa) of the HAs in the hydrogel networks. The low molecular weight of HA was obtained in advance by treating high molecular weight HA with a hydrogen chloride solution. Methacrylation of HA was obtained by grafting aminopropylmethacrylate to its caroboxylic acid functional groups. While reduction of the HA molecular weights was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography, the degree of methacrylate grafting to the HA was measured by (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance. Synthesis of the HA-PEO hydrogel was successfully achieved via the Michael-type addition reaction between the methacrylate arm groups in the HA and the six thiol groups in PEO. The hydrogel formation was not dependent upon the HA molecular weights and its gelation behaviors were markedly different. Compared to the properties of the high molecular weight HA-based PEO one, the low molecular weight HA-based hydrogel induced quicker hydrogelation, as observed from the behaviors of the elastic and viscous modulus. Furthermore, the low molecular weight HA-based hydrogel demonstrated stronger mechanical properties as measured with a texture analyzer, lower water absorption as measured with a microbalance and smaller pore sizes on its surface and cross section as observed with scanning electron microscopy. The information about the effects of the cross-linking molecular weights of the gel network on the properties of the HA-based PEO hydrogel may lead to better design of hydrogels, especially in tissue engineering applications.

Glucose Prediction in the Interstitial Fluid Based on Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy Using Multi-component Analysis

Prediction of glucose concentration in the interstitial fluid (ISF) based on mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy was examined at the glucose fundamental absorption band of 1000 - 1500/cm (10 - 6.67 um) using multi-component analysis. Simulated ISF samples were prepared by including four major ISF components. Sodium lactate had absorption spectra that interfere with those of glucose. The rest NaCl, KCl and

Characterizations of the TiO(2-x) films synthesized by e-beam evaporation for endovascular applications.

CaCl_2

Modification of the bulk properties of the porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) scaffold by irradiation with a cyclotron ion beam with high energy for its application in tissue engineering

did not have any signatures. A preliminary experiment based on Design of Experiment, an optimization method, proved that sodium lactate influenced the prediction accuracy of glucose. For the main experiment, 54 samples were prepared whose glucose and sodium lactate concentration varied independently. A partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis was used to build calibration models. The prediction accuracy was dependent on spectrum preprocessing methods, and Mean Centering produced the best results. Depending on calibration sample sets whose sodium lactate had different concentration levels, the standard error prediction (SEP) of glucose ranged

Accuracy improvement in the interstitial glucose measurement based on infrared spectroscopy

17.19{\sim}21.02\;mg/dl

Special feature containing articles from the 5th China?Korea Symposium on Biomaterials and Nano-Biotechnology

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Special issue featuring articles from the 4th Korea–China Symposium on Biomaterials and Nano-Biotechnology

Different chemical states of titanium oxide films were deposited on commercially pure Ti (CP Ti) by electron-beam evaporation at different oxygen flow rates to examine a possibility of their applications to endovascular stents. The surface morphology, chemical composition and crystal structure of the obtained titanium oxide films were analyzed by FE-SEM, XPS and XRD, respectively. As a function of the deposition parameters employed, the obtained titanium oxide films demonstrated different mixtures of anatase phase, Ti2O3 and TiO. By the formation of titanium oxide film on the CP Ti plate, the contact angle was decreased and the cellular activity of porcine aortic smooth muscle cells was increased. Post-deposition annealing was also found to be an important factor to achieve advantageous biocompatibility. When haemocompatibility was investigated by observing adhesion of blood platelets from platelet-rich plasma, less platelet adhesion was observed on titanium oxide films. These results indicated that titanium oxide film synthesized by e-beam evaporation could be applicable to coronary stents.

Bone regeneration using hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel with bone morphogenic protein-2 and human mesenchymal stem cells

Understanding the bulk properties of a prefabricated scaffold for handling and degradation during cell culture may be advantageous to its application in tissue engineering. Modification of the bulk properties of the porous poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) scaffold was performed by irradiation with a high energy cyclotron proton ion beam. The porous PLGA scaffolds were fabricated in advance by the gas-foaming method by employing ammonium bicarbonate particles as porogens. Irradiation with ion beams was performed with 40 MeV for 3, 6 and 9 min on the scaffolds at a distance of 30 cm from the beam exit to the scaffold surface. The bulk area of the ion beam-treated PLGA scaffold apparently demonstrated no color changes when observed with a digital camera. The chemical structures of the untreated samples seemed to be kept well when analyzed by both Fourier transformed infrared but a subtle change was observed in its x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results of in vitro tissue culture with smooth muscle cells for up to 4 weeks also demonstrated no significant difference in terms of its handling stability during cell culture and cellular behavior between the untreated PLGA scaffolds and the ion beam-treated ones. However, significant changes were observed in its molecular weight as measured by gel permeation chromatography, indicating a significant reduction of its molecular weights. These results of in vitro tests and GPC measurements indicated that while bulk modification of the scaffold was processed, its handling was stable during in vitro cell culture for up to 4 weeks.