418 research outputs found

    Composite of elastin-based matrix and electrospun poly(L-lactic acid) fibers: A potential smart drug delivery system

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    Stimuli-responsive hydrogel matrices are inspiring manifold applications in controlled delivery of bioactive compounds. Elastin-derived polypeptides form hydrogel matrices that may release bioactive moieties as a function of local increase of active elastases, as it would occur in several processes like inflammation. In view of the development of a patch for healing wounds, recombinant elastin-based polypeptides were combined with a proteolysis-resistant scaffold, made of electrospun poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) fibers. The results of this study demonstrated the compatibility of these two components. An efficient procedure to obtain a composite material retaining the main features of each component was established. The release of the elastin moiety was monitored by means of a simple protocol. Our data showed that electrospun PLLA can form a composite with fusion proteins bound to elastin-derived polypeptides. Therefore, our approach allows designing a therapeutic agent delivery platform to realize devices capable of responding and interacting with biological systems at the molecular level

    Laccase-Carrying Polylactic Acid Electrospun Fibers, Advantages and Limitations in Bio-Oxidation of Amines and Alcohols

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    Laccases are oxidative enzymes that could be good candidates for the functionalization of biopolymers with several applications as biosensors for the determination of bioactive amine and alcohols, for bioremediation of industrial wastewater, and for greener catalysts in oxidation reactions in organic synthesis, especially used for non-phenolic compounds in combination with redox mediators in the so-called Laccase Mediator System (LMS). In this work, we describe the immobilization of Laccase from Trametes versicolor (LTv) in poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) nanofibers and its application in LMS oxidation reactions. The PLLA-LTv catalysts were successfully produced by electrospinning of a water-in-oil emulsion with an optimized method. Different enzyme loadings (1.6, 3.2, and 5.1% (w)/(w)) were explored, and the obtained mats were thoroughly characterized. The actual amount of the enzyme in the fibers and the eventual enzyme leaching in different solvents were evaluated. Finally, the PLLA-LTv mats were successfully applied as such in the oxidation reaction of catechol, and in the LMS method with TEMPO as mediator in the oxidation of amines with the advantage of easier work-up procedures by the immobilized enzyme. However, the PLLA-LTv failed the oxidation of alcohols with respect to the free enzyme. A tentative explanation was provided

    Effect of oxide nanoparticles on thermal and mechanical properties of electrospun separators for lithium-ion batteries

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    This study reports the fabrication and characterization of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE) nanofibrous separators for lithium-ion batteries loaded with different amounts of fumed-silica and tin oxide nanoparticles. Membrane morphological characterization (SEM, TEM) showed the presence of good-quality nanofibres containing nanoparticles. Thermal degradation and membrane mechanical properties were also investigated, and a remarkable effect of nanoparticle addition on membrane mechanical properties was found. In particular, PEO membranes were strengthened by the addition of metal oxide, whereas PVDF-CTFE membranes acquired ductility

    Editorial: Electrospinning of Bioinspired Materials and Structures for Bioengineering and Advanced Biomedical Applications

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    The Research Topic “Electrospinning of Bioinspired Materials and Structures for Bioengineering and Advanced Biomedical Applications” includes submissions that relate to the “Biomaterials” and “Bionics and Biomimetics” sections of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. The collection aims to provide an overview of how electrospinning, inspired by nature, can reproduce the hierarchical structure and biomechanical properties of biological tissues, ranging from the nanoscale to the macroscale. The development of such innovative nanofibrous structures requires the improvement of both functionalization and biofabrication strategies, to enhance the scaffold bioactivity and to drive cells in the regeneration of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the target tissues of interest. Recent technological advances have given rise to the availability of intelligent and smart biomaterials for the regeneration of innovative procedures for manufacturing nanometric structures, and methods for assembling multiscale hierarchical structures. Furthermore, imaging has improved considerably in the last few years, allowing multimodal imaging with nanometric resolution

    Hierarchical fibrous structures for muscle-inspired soft-actuators:A review

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    Inspired by Nature, one of the most ambitious challenge in soft robotics is to design actuators capable of reaching performances comparable to the skeletal muscles. Considering the perfectly balanced features of natural muscular tissue in terms of linear contraction, force‐to‐weight ratio, scalability and morphology, scientists have been working for many years on mimicking this structure. Focusing on the biomimicry, this review investigates the state‐of‐the‐art of synthetic fibrous, muscle‐inspired actuators that, aiming to enhance their mechanical performances, are hierarchically designed from the nanoscale up to the macroscale. In particular, this review focuses on those hierarchical fibrous actuators that enhance their biomimicry employing a linear contraction strategy, closely resembling the skeletal muscles actuation system. The literature analysis shows that bioinspired artificial muscles, developed up to now, only in part comply with skeletal ones. The manipulation and control of the matter at the nanoscale allows to realize ordered structures, such as nanofibers, used as elemental actuators characterized by high strains but moderate force levels. Moreover, it can be foreseen that scaling up the nanostructured materials into micro‐ and macroscale hierarchical structures, it is possible to realize linear actuators characterized by suitable levels of force and displacement

    The pulsed electron deposition technique for biomedical applications: A review

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    The "pulsed electron deposition" (PED) technique, in which a solid target material is ablated by a fast, high-energy electron beam, was initially developed two decades ago for the deposition of thin films of metal oxides for photovoltaics, spintronics, memories, and superconductivity, and dielectric polymer layers. Recently, PED has been proposed for use in the biomedical field for the fabrication of hard and soft coatings. The first biomedical application was the deposition of low wear zirconium oxide coatings on the bearing components in total joint replacement. Since then, several works have reported the manufacturing and characterization of coatings of hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphate substituted (CaP), biogenic CaP, bioglass, and antibacterial coatings on both hard (metallic or ceramic) and soft (plastic or elastomeric) substrates. Due to the growing interest in PED, the current maturity of the technology and the low cost compared to other commonly used physical vapor deposition techniques, the purpose of this work was to review the principles of operation, the main applications, and the future perspectives of PED technology in medicine

    Fast Coprecipitation of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles inside Gelatin Nanofibers by Tricoaxial Electrospinning

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    We present an effective method for fabricating electrospun gelatin nanofibers containing well-dispersed inorganic nanoparticles. The new method encompasses the use of a special triaxial needle where mixing calcium and phosphate aqueous solutions in an intermediate needle yield calcium phosphate (CaP) nanoparticles that immediately after precipitation are dragged by the outer polymeric solution and incorporated directly in the electrospinning jet, before nanofiber formation. Gelatin electrospun mats containing different amounts of CaP nanoparticles were prepared and characterized by SEM, TEM, TGA, and stress-strain measurements. The results demonstrate that CaP particles having diameter of few tens of nanometers were successfully introduced in the gelatin nanofibers during the electrospinning process and that they were well dispersed throughout the fiber length. In addition, the use of the special triaxial needle enabled modulating the CaP amount in the nanofibers

    Biomimetic Hierarchically Arranged Nanofibrous Structures Resembling the Architecture and the Passive Mechanical Properties of Skeletal Muscles: A Step Forward Toward Artificial Muscle

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    Skeletal muscles are considered to date the best existing actuator in nature thanks to their hierarchical multiscale fibrous structure capable to enhance their strength and contractile performances. In recent years, driven by the growing of the soft robotics and tissue-engineering research field, many biomimetic soft actuators and scaffolds were designed by taking inspiration from the biological skeletal muscle. In this work we used the electrospinning technique to develop a hierarchically arranged nanofibrous structure resembling the morphology and passive biomechanical properties of skeletal muscles. To mimic the passive properties of muscle, a low-modulus polyurethane was used. Several electrospun structures (mats, bundles, and a muscle-like assembly) were produced with different internal 3D arrangements of the nanofibers. A thermal characterization through thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry analysis investigated the physico-chemical properties of the material. The multiscale morphological similarities with the biological counterpart were verified by means of scanning electron microscopy investigation. The tensile tests on the different electrospun samples revealed that the muscle-like assembly presented slightly higher strength and stiffness compared to the skeletal muscle ones. Moreover, mathematical models of the mechanical behavior of the nanofibrous structures were successfully developed, allowing to better investigate the relationships between structure and mechanics of the samples. The promising results suggest the suitability of this hierarchical electrospun nanofibrous structure for applications in regenerative medicine and, if combined with active materials, in soft actuators for robotic

    Organogel Coupled with Microstructured Electrospun Polymeric Nonwovens for the Effective Cleaning of Sensitive Surfaces

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    Hydrogels and organogels are widely used as cleaning materials, especially when a controlled solvent release is necessary to prevent substrate damage. This situation is often encountered in the personal care and electronic components fields and represents a challenge in restoration, where the removal of a thin layer of aged varnish from a painting may compromise the integrity of the painting itself. There is an urgent need for new and effective cleaning materials capable of controlling and limiting the use of solvents, achieving at the same time high cleaning efficacy. In this paper, new sandwich-like composites that fully address these requirements are developed by using an organogel (poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) + \u3b3-valerolactone) in the core and two external layers of electrospun nonwovens made of continuous submicrometric fibers produced by electrospinning (either poly(vinyl alcohol) or polyamide 6,6). The new composite materials exhibit an extremely efficient cleaning action that results in the complete elimination of the varnish layer with a minimal amount of solvent adsorbed by the painting layer after the treatment. This demonstrates that the combined materials exert a superficial action that is of utmost importance to safeguard the painting. Moreover, we found that the electrospun nonwoven layers act as mechanically reinforcement components, greatly improving the bending resistance of organogels and their handling. The characterization of these innovative cleaning materials allowed us to propose a mechanism to explain their action: electrospun fibers play the leading role by slowing down the diffusion of the solvent and by conferring to the entire composite a microstructured rough superficial morphology, enabling to achieve outstanding cleaning performance

    Influence of biological matrix and artificial electrospun scaffolds on proliferation, differentiation and trophic factor synthesis of rat embryonic stem cells.

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    Abstract Two-dimensional vs three-dimensional culture conditions, such as the presence of extracellular matrix components, could deeply influence the cell fate and properties. In this paper we investigated proliferation, differentiation, survival, apoptosis, growth and neurotrophic factor synthesis of rat embryonic stem cells (RESCs) cultured in 2D and 3D conditions generated using CultrexÂź Basement Membrane Extract (BME) and in poly-( l -lactic acid) (PLLA) electrospun sub-micrometric fibres. It is demonstrated that, in the absence of other instructive stimuli, growth, differentiation and paracrine activity of RESCs are directly affected by the different microenvironment provided by the scaffold. In particular, RESCs grown on an electrospun PLLA scaffolds coated or not with BME have a higher proliferation rate, higher production of bioactive nerve growth factor (NGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) compared to standard 2D conditions, lasting for at least 2 weeks. Due to the high mechanical flexibility of PLLA electrospun scaffolds, the PLLA/stem cell culture system offers an interesting potential for implantable neural repair devices
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