A peek at the nano-level to biomimic bones

From the pattern of a honeycomb to the complexity of a DNA strand -- the intricate structures found in nature have astounded and inspired many scientists and designers for centuries. Many newer and better technologies in the fields of medicine and research, like the bullet trains in Japan inspired by the kingfisher's beak, or the prosthetic arm inspired by tentacles, were possible, thanks to nature. Now, a study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, aims to study the structure and composition of human bones to help in repairing them

A Review of Hydrogels in Droplet-based Bio-Fabrication Techniques

The Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies with hydrogels as biomaterials have gained tremendous popularity in Tissue Engineering applications for scaffold development, especially for the soft scaffold developments. Droplet-based RP technologies which use hydrogels as printing materials have seen growing acceptance in past decade, as they facilitate the encapsulation of living cells and improvement of cell seeding efficiency. In this review different droplet-based RP techniques have been briefly reviewed along with various natural hydrogels used for the fabricating the scaffolds

IIT Hyderabad Researchers Develop Collagen From Waste Eel Skin

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad Researchers have derived collagen from waste eel skin and shown that tissue scaffolds built using such collagen allow growth and proliferation of stem cells

Mechanically tunable photo-cross-linkable bioinks for osteogenic differentiation of MSCs in 3D bioprinted constructs

3D bioprinting technique renders a plausible solution to tissue engineering applications, mainly bone tissue regeneration, which could provide the microenvironment with desired physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. However, the mechanical and structural stability of current natural polymers is a critical issue in the fabrication of bone tissue-engineered scaffolds. To overcome these issues, we have developed 3D bioprintable semi-synthetic polymers derived from natural (sodium alginate, A) and synthetic (polyethylene glycol, PEG) biopolymers. In order to enhance the cross-linking properties and biocompatibility, we have functionalized these polymers with acrylate and methacrylate chemical moieties. These selected combination of natural and synthetic polymers improved the mechanical strength due to the synergistic effect of covalent as well as ionic bond formation in the hydrogel system, which is evident from the tested tensile data. Further, the feasibility of 3D bioprinting of acrylate and methacrylate functionalized PEG and hydrogels have been tested for the biocompatibility of the fabricated structures with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UMSCs). Further, these bioprinted scaffolds were investigated for osteogenic differentiation of UMSCs in two types of culture conditions: namely, i) with osteoinduction media (with OIM), ii) without osteoinduction media (w/o OIM). We have examined the osteoinductivity of scaffolds with the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) content, and significant changes in the ALP activity was observed with the stiffness of developed materials. The extent osteogenic differentiation was observed by alizarin red staining and reverse transcription PCR analysis. Elevated levels of ALP, RUNX2 and COL1 gene expression has been observed in without OIM samples on week 1 and week 3. Further, our study showed that the synthesized alginate methacrylate (AMA) without osteoinduction supplement with young's modulus of 0.34 MPa has a significant difference in ALP quantity and gene expression over the other reported literature. Thus, this work plays a pivotal role in the development of 3D bioprintable and photo-cross-linkable hydrogels in osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. © 2021 Elsevier B.V

Isogenic-induced endothelial cells enhance osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on silk fibroin scaffold

We investigated the role of induced endothelial cells (iECs) in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)/iECs coculture and assessed their osteogenic ability on silk fibroin nanofiber scaffolds.The osteogenic differentiation was assessed by the ALP assay, calcium assay and gene expression studies.The osteogenic differentiation of the iECs co-cultures was found to be higher than the MSCs group and proximal to endothelial cells (ECs) co-cultures. Furthermore, the usage of isogenic iECs for co-culture increased the osteogenic and endothelial gene expression.These findings suggest that iECs mimic endothelial cells when co-cultured with MSCs and that one MSCs source can be used to give rise to both MSCs and iECs. The isogenic MSCs/iECs co-culture provides a new option for bone tissue engineering applications

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Roles of the “Omics” in Hypoxic–Ischemic Encephalopathy in Neonates

Perinatal asphyxia and neonatal encephalopathy remain major causes of neonatal mortality, despite the improved availability of diagnostic and therapeutic tools, contributing to neurological and intellectual disabilities worldwide. An approach using a combination of clinical data, neuroimaging, and biochemical parameters is the current strategy towards the improved diagnosis and prognosis of the outcome in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) using bioengineering methods. Traditional biomarkers are of little use in this multifactorial and variable phenotype-presenting clinical condition. Novel systems of biology-based "omics" approaches (genomics, transcriptome proteomics, and metabolomics) may help to identify biomarkers associated with brain and other tissue injuries, predicting the disease severity in HIE. Biomarker studies using omics technologies will likely be a key feature of future neuroprotective treatment methods and will help to assess the successful treatment and long-term efficacy of the intervention. This article reviews the roles of different omics as biomarkers of HIE and outlines the existing knowledge of our current understanding of the clinical use of different omics molecules as novel neonatal brain injury biomarkers, which may lead to improved interventions related to the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of HIE

Tissue engineering of a vascularized bone graft

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Artificial skin: current advanced methods of fabrication and development

The skin is the largest multifunctional organ, that is, protective, self-healing, and proficient of sensing. Being exposed, it is one of the undoubtly easily injured organs. To heal an injured skin, a variety of approaches are in existence by implementing various hydrogels, chemically modified polymers, and a number of cellular therapies. Researchers have already fabricated various artificial skins whose properties are alike to those of human skin that is accountable for various important physiological functions. The modern recent strategies embrace scaffolds to lead skin regeneration, 3D printing, bioreactors to assist mature skin tissue in vitro, and electronic skin to develop numerous sensory functions. This chapter abridge all the recent advances associated to skin tissue development. Additionally, some current fabrication technologies of artificial skin are discussed. In summary, the artificial skin with the current new approaches is an encouraging candidate to be first among other tissues to be appropriate for skin tissue engineering applications in severely injured patients. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

3D printers for surgical practice

Surgical operations are challenging for newly recruited residents and experienced surgeons alike, as they involve unexpected findings in a surgical field, timely decisions, and unpredictable outcomes. In addition, they pose problems for experienced surgeons, who are dealing with congenital anomalies or complicated cancer cases, where the inter-anatomical relationships might not be as per traditional knowledge. Although a number of imaging modalities exist to accurately predict the anatomy in 3D, surgeons find it difficult to grasp and plan the details because of the limitations of 3D anatomy visualization and inter-tissue relationships on a 2D screen. 3D printing technology comes to aid in these circumstances. Surgeons could use the technology for a number of applications, including creation of patient specific pathological models for surgical planning, designing of customized prostheses, planning for surgical guide templates, and fabrication of accurate low-cost anatomical models as teaching aids. In addition, the patients as customers of medical therapy can clearly understand the complexity of surgery and the goals of surgical planning in complicated surgeries using these 3D models. Surgeons can clearly communicate with them about their condition through these palpable models. In summary, 3D printing technology could play an important role for both patient satisfaction and surgeons’ ability to provide better surgical car