Junhui Ji

Biocompatibility and bioactivity of plasma-treated biodegradable poly(butylene succinate).

Poly(butylene succinate) (PBSu), a novel biodegradable aliphatic polyester with excellent processability and mechanical properties, is a promising substance for bone and cartilage repair. However, it typically suffers from insufficient biocompatibility and bioactivity after implantation into the human body. In this work, H(2)O or NH(3) plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is conducted for the first time to modify the PBSu surface. Both the treated and control specimens are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle measurements and atomic force microscopy. The plasma treatments improve the hydrophilicity and roughness of PBSu significantly and the different PIII processes result in similar hydrophilicity and topography. C-OH and C-NH(2) functional groups emerge on the PBSu surface after H(2)O and NH(3) PIII, respectively. The biological results demonstrate that both osteoblast compatibility and apatite formability are enhanced after H(2)O and NH(3) PIII. Furthermore, our results suggest that H(2)O PIII is more effective in rendering PBSu suitable for bone-replacement implants compared to NH(3) PIII.

Rat calvaria osteoblast behavior and antibacterial properties of O2 and N2 plasma-implanted biodegradable poly(butylene succinate)

Poly(butylene succinate), a novel biodegradable aliphatic polyester with excellent processability and mechanical properties, was modified by O(2) or N(2) plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements were carried out to reveal the surface characteristics of the treated and control specimens. The in vitro effects of the materials on seeded osteoblasts were detected by cell viability assay, alkaline phosphatase activity test, and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Plate counting was performed to investigate the antibacterial properties. Our results show that both PIII treatments significantly improve the hydrophilicity of PBSu, and CO and nitrogen groups (CNH and CNH(2)) can be detected on the PBSu after O(2) and N(2) PIII, respectively. The modified samples exhibit similar compatibility to osteoblasts, which is better than that of the control, but O(2) PIII and N(2) PIII produce different effects according to the osteogenic gene expressions of seeded osteoblasts on the materials. Moreover, the N(2) plasma-modified PBSu exhibits anti-infection effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli but no such effects can be achieved after O(2) PIII.

Biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) modified by gas plasmas and their in vitro functions as bone implants.

Artificial implants are alternatives to autologous grafts in repairing severe bone damage and in many clinical applications, the artificial implant materials should be biodegradable in order to avoid chronic problems associated with biostable implants. In this study, a biodegradable biopolymer, poly(butylene succinate) (PBSu), is treated by N(2), NH(3) and H(2)O plasmas and investigated as bone replacement materials in vitro to obtain a better understanding of the behavior of osteoblasts on the different plasma-treated materials. N(2), NH(3), and H(2)O plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) produces dominant C-N, C═N, and C-O surface functional groups, respectively rendering the materials with hydrophilic characteristics which favor osteoblast adhesion and early proliferation. In particular, N-containing groups, especially C═N, are more positive to osteogenic differentiation of the seeded osteoblasts than C-O. Among the 3 plasma treatments, NH(3) PIII is the most effective, yielding surface properties that are suitable for artificial bone implants.

Upregulation of BMSCs Osteogenesis by Positively-Charged Tertiary Amines on Polymeric Implants via Charge/iNOS Signaling Pathway

Positively-charged surfaces on implants have a similar potential to upregulate osteogenesis of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) as electromagnetic therapy approved for bone regeneration. Generally, their osteogenesis functions are generally considered to stem from the charge-induced adhesion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins without exploring the underlying surface charge/cell signaling molecule pathways. Herein, a positively-charged surface with controllable tertiary amines is produced on a polymer implant by plasma surface modification. In addition to inhibiting the TNF-α expression, the positively-charged surface with tertiary amines exhibits excellent cytocompatibility as well as remarkably upregulated osteogenesis-related gene/protein expressions and calcification of the contacted BMSCs. Stimulated by the charged surface, these BMSCs display high iNOS expressions among the three NOS isoforms. Meanwhile, downregulation of the iNOS by L-Can or siRNA inhibit osteogenic differentiation in the BMSCs. These findings suggest that a positively-charged surface with tertiary amines induces osteogenesis of BMSCs via the surface charge/iNOS signaling pathway in addition to elevated ECM protein adhesion. Therefore, creating a positively-charged surface with tertiary amines is a promising approach to promote osseointegration with bone tissues.

Red mud/polypropylene composite with mechanical and thermal properties:

Polypropylene (PP) based composites containing 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, and 50 wt% red mud are granulated by twin-screw extrusion and injection molding. Their mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus, impact strength, and thermal properties are determined. After filling with red mud, the flexural strength and modulus, thermal deformation temperature, and Vicat softening temperature increase, whereas the impact strength decreases with increasing red mud contents. The maximum tensile strength is observed from the PP doped with 15 wt% red mud. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is used to investigate the dispersion of red mud in the PP matrix.

Fabrication of Ultrafine Soft-Matter Arrays by Selective Contact Thermochemical Reaction

Patterning of functional soft matters at different length scales is important for diverse research fields including cell biology, tissue engineering and medicinal science and the development of optics and electronics. Here we have further improved a simple but very efficient method, selective contact thermochemical reaction (SCTR), for patterning soft matters over large area with a sub-100 nm resolution. By selecting contact between different precursors through a topographically patterned PDMS stamp and subsequently any heating way for thermalchemical reaction, thermal-related soft matters can be patterned to form controllable micro or nano structures, even three-dimensional structures. The fine tunability and controllability of as-prepared micro and nano structures demonstrate this versatile approach a far wide range of uses than the merely academic.

Antibacterial and osteoinductive capability of orthopedic materials via cation–π interaction mediated positive charge

Both implant centered infection and deficient osteoinduction are pivotal issues for orthopedic implants in early and long-term osseointegration, but constructing a functional bio-interface that can overcome these two problems is highly challenging. Our study reveals that a bio-interface with promoted positive charges plays an active role in simultaneously enhancing the antibacterial and osteoinductive capability of orthopedic implants. The positively charged bio-interface is fabricated by a simple dipping method, in which the cationic polymer (polyhexamethylene biguanidine, PHMB) is immobilized in the conjugated polydopamine coating. Mediated by the cation-π interaction, the immobilized PHMB elevates the surface potential resulting in excellent antibacterial efficacy corresponding to 5 ppm of free PHMB. The materials exhibit far better cytocompatibility than free PHMB at the dose which kills over 50% of the cells. Most importantly, the cationic surface can function as a bioelectrical microenvironment to guide bone mesenchymal stem cells and consequently, enhanced cellular viability and proliferation together with upregulated osteogenesis are achieved. The cation-π interaction mediated cationic surface overcomes the disadvantages plaguing the immobilized cationic antibacterial compounds prepared by other methods and is applicable to different types of biomedical materials requiring antibacterial and osteoinductive bio-interfaces.

Effects of plasma-generated nitrogen functionalities on the upregulation of osteogenesis of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Because of the complex plasma reactions and chemical structures of polymers, it is difficult to construct nitrogen functionalities controllably by plasma technology to attain the desirable biological outcome and hence, their effects on bone cells are sometimes ambiguous and even contradictory. In this study, argon plasma treatment is utilized to convert complex molecular chains into a pyrolytic carbon structure which possesses excellent cytocompatibility. The pyrolytic carbon then serves as a platform to prepare the desired nitrogen functionalities by nitrogen and hydrogen plasma immersion ion implantation. Primary, secondary, and tertiary amine groups can be produced selectively thus minimizing the chemical complexity and creation of multiple types of nitrogen functional groups that are often obtained by other fabrication methods. As a result of the excellent control of the nitrogen functionalities rendered by this plasma technique, the effects of individual nitrogen functionalities on the cytocompatibility and upregulation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) osteogenesis can be investigated systematically. The tertiary amine functionalities exhibit the optimal efficiency pertaining to the modulation of the biological response, enhancement of osteogenesis related gene/protein expression, and calcification of the contacted BMSCs. Our results demonstrate that simple plasma technology can be conveniently employed to create the desirable nitrogen functionalities on orthopedic polymers to facilitate osseointegration and mitigate foreign body reactions.

Electron transfer driven highly valent silver for chronic wound treatment

Although silver is widely added to various chronic wounds to kill higher concentrations (107-108 CFU mL-1) of bacteria, overdose of silver remains a major cause of diverse side effects, such as cytotoxicity and tissue and organ damage. Here we showed that reducing the dose level of silver, additionally conferring electron transfer potential, could simultaneously achieve good biocompatibility and strong bactericidal ability without introducing extra chemical residuals for chronic wound treatment. A systematic investigation demonstrated that 1 ppm trivalent silver ions performed rapid (5 min) and effective antibacterial activities against pathogens while not significantly affecting cell viability which were equivalent to 20 ppm monovalent silver ions with cytotoxicity, and accelerated the healing process and improved the tissue quality of burn wounds. The killing effect is independent of material and is mainly controlled by the electron transfer potentials of trivalent silver ions, which disrupts the electron transport of bacteria membrane respiration and leads to the death of bacteria. Together, such trivalent silver opens up new possibilities for dispelling the concern of silver usage in biosafety and provides an avenue for designing antibiotics or other biomedical applications.

In situ plasma fabrication of ceramic‐like structure on polymeric implant with enhanced surface hardness, cytocompatibility and antibacterial capability

Polymeric materials are commonly found in orthopedic implants due to their unique mechanical properties and biocompatibility but the poor surface hardness and bacterial infection hamper many biomedical applications. In this study, a ceramic-like surface structure doped with silver is produced by successive plasma implantation of silicon (Si) and silver (Ag) into the polyamine 66 (PA66) substrate. Not only the surface hardness and elastic modulus are greatly enhanced due to the partial surface carbonization and the ceramic-like structure produced by the reaction between energetic Si and the carbon chain of PA66, but also the antibacterial activity is improved because of the combined effects rendered by Ag and SiC structure. Furthermore, the modified materials which exhibit good cytocompatibility upregulate bone-related genes and proteins expressions of the contacted bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). For the first time, it explores out that BMSCs osteogenesis on the antibacterial ceramic-like structure is mediated via the iNOS and nNOS signal pathways. The results reveal that in situ plasma fabrication of an antibacterial ceramic-like structure can endow PA66 with excellent surface hardness, cytocompatibility, as well as antibacterial capability.