In situ guided tissue regeneration in musculoskeletal diseases and aging: Implementing pathology into tailored tissue engineering strategies

In situ guided tissue regeneration, also addressed as in situ tissue engineering or endogenous regeneration, has a great potential for population-wide “minimal invasive” applications. During the last two decades, tissue engineering has been developed with remarkable in vitro and preclinical success but still the number of applications in clinical routine is extremely small. Moreover, the vision of population-wide applications of ex vivo tissue engineered constructs based on cells, growth and differentiation factors and scaffolds, must probably be deemed unrealistic for economic and regulation-related issues. Hence, the progress made in this respect will be mostly applicable to a fraction of post-traumatic or post-surgery situations such as big tissue defects due to tumor manifestation. Minimally invasive procedures would probably qualify for a broader application and ideally would only require off the shelf standardized products without cells. Such products should mimic the microenvironment of regenerating tissues and make use of the endogenous tissue regeneration capacities. Functionally, the chemotaxis of regenerative cells, their amplification as a transient amplifying pool and their concerted differentiation and remodeling should be addressed. This is especially important because the main target populations for such applications are the elderly and diseased. The quality of regenerative cells is impaired in such organisms and high levels of inhibitors also interfere with regeneration and healing. In metabolic bone diseases like osteoporosis, it is already known that antagonists for inhibitors such as activin and sclerostin enhance bone formation. Implementing such strategies into applications for in situ guided tissue regeneration should greatly enhance the efficacy of tailored procedures in the future

Processing and Mechanical Properties of Biphasic Calcium- Phosphate/Poly-L-lactide Composite Biomaterials

This study descripts processing of biphasic calcium-phosphate (BCP) and poly-L-lactide (PLLA) biocomposite implant material. The composite was obtained by mixing completely dissolved PLLA with granules of high crystalline BCP and was compacted by hot pressing using cylindrical dies at 450 K temperature and 98.1 MPa pressure, for 30 and 60 minutes. Wide-angle X-ray structural (WAXS) analyses of BCP, PLLA and BCP/PLLA composite blocks were made followed by calorimetric (DSC) tests in the 320-520 K temperature range. Compression tests revealed that Young's modulus and compressive strength of the composite increased with extended hot pressing time and were found to be within the bounds of the cortical bone values

Novel Gemini vitamin D3 analogs:large structure/function analysis and ability to induce antimicrobial peptide

10.1002/ijc.28328International Journal of Cancer1341207-217IJCN

Processing of hybrid wood plastic composite reinforced with short PET fibers

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers (virgin, waste, and mixed) were incorporated in the composite poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-wood. Hybrid composite panels were prepared by pressure molding. Toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) were used as cross-linking bonding agents for modification of wood fibers. Influence of cross-linking bonding agents, structure, and composition of PET fibers was examined by studying thermomechanical properties as well as moisture absorption. Moisture absorption was lower for composites with bonding agents. Mechanical testing revealed that the addition of PET fibers drastically enhances properties of the composites. Covalent and hydrogen bonds formed with the addition of bonding agents have also improved mechanical properties compared to the untreated composites