Three-Dimensional Microfabrication With Conjugated Polymers

In this paper we reported the microfabrication of three-dimensional structures using two-photon polymerization (2PP) in a mixture of MEH-PPV and an acrylic resin. Femtosecond laser operating at 800nm was employed for the two-photon polymerization processes. As a first step in this project we obtained the better composition in order to fabricate microstructers of MEH-PPV in the resin via two-photon polymerzation. Acknowledgement:This research is support by Mazur Group, Harvrad Universirt

Magnetic Hydroxyapatite Bone Substitutes to Enhance Tissue Regeneration: Evaluation In Vitro Using Osteoblast-Like Cells and In Vivo in a Bone Defect

In case of degenerative disease or lesion, bone tissue replacement and regeneration is an important clinical goal. In particular, nowadays, critical size defects rely on the engineering of scaffolds that are 3D structural supports, allowing cellular infiltration and subsequent integration with the native tissue. Several ceramic hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds with high porosity and good osteointegration have been developed in the past few decades but they have not solved completely the problems related to bone defects. In the present study we have developed a novel porous ceramic composite made of HA that incorporates magnetite at three different ratios: HA/Mgn 95/5, HA/Mgn 90/10 and HA/Mgn 50/50. The scaffolds, consolidated by sintering at high temperature in a controlled atmosphere, have been analysed in vitro using human osteoblast-like cells. Results indicate high biocompatibility, similar to a commercially available HA bone graft, with no negative effects arising from the presence of magnetite or by the use of a static magnetic field. HA/Mgn 90/10 was shown to enhance cell proliferation at the early stage. Moreover, it has been implanted in vivo in a critical size lesion of the rabbit condyle and a good level of histocompatibility was observed. Such results identify this scaffold as particularly relevant for bone tissue regeneration and open new perspectives for the application of a magnetic field in a clinical setting of bone replacement, either for magnetic scaffold fixation or magnetic drug delivery

polymer nanostructuring by two photon absorption

Two-photon polymerization (2PP) is an innovative technology that in recent years showed a tremendous potential for three-dimensional structuring of photopolymers at the submicron scale. It is based on the nonlinear absorption of ultrashort laser pulses in transparent photosensitive materials. 2PP has been so far exploited in various fields, including photonics, microfluidics, regenerative medicine and MEMS prototyping. The versatility of this technology relies also on the photomaterials; indeed, polymers are easy to process, low cost and they allow the tailoring of their chemical and mechanical properties. 2PP nanotechnology is here exploited to produce micro and nanostructures that can be easily customized both in the geometry and in polymer functionalization. In particular, atomic force microscopy tips are fabricated on top of commercial cantilevers to demonstrate the technology feasibility and customizability. Moreover nanoporous membranes that can be fabricated by 2PP as a single custom product or as a mould for mass production through replica moulding are realized to evaluate the scalability of the fabrication process

An alternative technique for patterning cells on poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate hydrogels

This work demonstrates the feasibility of patterning a poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel with a cell adhesive ligand that was functionalized with an acrylate group using Michael type addition instead of activated N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (NHS) ester based chemistry. We synthesized PEGDA from PEG molecules and made PEGDA hydrogels via free radical polymerization in the presence of UV light and photoinitiator. Mechanical and physical properties of the hydrogel could be tuned by changing the polymer concentration. The synthesized PEGDA was made to react with cysteine-glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartate-serine (CGRGDS) peptide in a controlled manner to yield acrylate-PEG-CGRGDS via base catalyzed Michael type addition reaction. This monoacrylated cell adhesive peptide was immobilized on inert PEGDA hydrogel surface by exposing it to UV light through a photomask to render the gels selectively adhesive to cells. Fluorescently tagged CGRGDS peptide was used to enable visualization of patterned regions under a fluorescence microscope. Conjugation of acrylated peptide to PEGDA gel post UV exposure was determined by acid hydrolysis followed by ninhydrin assay. Primary human dermal fibroblast cells were found to adhere and spread on the surface of gels patterned with peptide, thereby, confirming that selective cell adhesion can be achieved by this method. Here, we demonstrate a cost effective way to form a monoacrylated cell adhesive peptide that can be used for spatial patterning of cells on an acrylated hydrogel surface

Two-photon absorption spectrum of the photoinitiator Lucirin TPO-L

Two-photon absorption induced polymerization provides a powerful method for the fabrication of intricate three-dimensional microstructures. Recently, Lucirin TPO-L was shown to be a photoinitiator with several advantageous properties for two-photon induced polymerization. Here we measure the two-photon absorption cross-section spectrum of Lucirin TPO-L, which presents a maximum of 1.2 GM at 610 nm. Despite its small two-photon absorption cross-section, it is possible to fabricate excellent microstructures by two-photon polymerization due to the high polymerization quantum yield of Lucirin TPO-L. These results indicate that optimization of the two-photon absorption cross-section is not the only material parameter to be considered when searching for new photoinitiators for microfabrication via two-photon absorption

Three-dimensional fabrication of optically active microstructures containing an electroluminescent polymer

Microfabrication via two-photon absorption polymerization is a technique to design complex microstructures in a simple and fast way. The applications of such structures range from mechanics to photonics to biology, depending on the dopant material and its specific properties. In this paper, we use two-photon absorption polymerization to fabricate optically active microstructures containing the conductive and luminescent polymer poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (MEH-PPV). We verify that MEH-PPV retains its optical activity and is distributed throughout the microstructure after fabrication. The microstructures retain the emission characteristics of MEH-PPV and allow waveguiding of locally excited fluorescence when fabricated on top of low refractive index substrates. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3232207

Two-Photon Polymerization for Fabricating Structures Containing the Biopolymer Chitosan

Two-photon polymerization is a powerful tool for fabricating three-dimensional micro/nano structures for applications ranging from nanophotonics to biology. To tailor such structure for specific purposes it is often important to dope them. In this paper we report on the fabrication of structures, with nanometric surface features (resolution of approximately 700 nm), using two-photon polymerization of an acrylic resin doped with the biocompatible polymer chitosan using a guest-host scheme. The fluorescence background in the Raman spectrum indicates the presence of chitosan throughout the structure. Mechanical characterization reveals that chitosan does not affect the mechanical properties of the host acrylic resin and, consequently, the structures exhibit excellent integrity. The approach presented in this work can be used in the fabrication of micro- and nanostructures containing biopolymers for biomedical applications.National Science Foundation (NSF)[DMI 0334984]U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)Army Research OfficeArmy Research Office[ARO W911NF-05-1-0471]Funda de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)National Science Foundation`s National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NSF)U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF