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Biomineralization of Engineered Spider Silk Protein-Based Composite Materials for Bone Tissue Engineering
2016, Hardy, John G., Torres-Rendon, Jose Guillermo, Leal-Egaña, Aldo, Walther, Andreas, Schlaad, Helmut, Cölfen, Helmut, Scheibel, Thomas
Materials based on biodegradable polyesters, such as poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) or poly(butylene terephthalate-co-poly(alkylene glycol) terephthalate) (PBTAT), have potential application as pro-regenerative scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Herein, the preparation of films composed of PBT or PBTAT and an engineered spider silk protein, (eADF4(C16)), that displays multiple carboxylic acid moieties capable of binding calcium ions and facilitating their biomineralization with calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate is reported. Human mesenchymal stem cells cultured on films mineralized with calcium phosphate show enhanced levels of alkaline phosphatase activity suggesting that such composites have potential use for bone tissue engineering.
Electrically Conductive and 3D-Printable Oxidized Alginate-Gelatin Polypyrrole: PSS Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering
2021, Distler, Thomas, Polley, Christian, Shi, Fukun, Schneidereit, Dominik, Ashton, Mark D., Friedrich, Oliver, Kolb, Jürgen F., Hardy, John G., Detsch, Rainer, Seitz, Hermann, Boccaccini, Aldo R.
Electroactive hydrogels can be used to influence cell response and maturation by electrical stimulation. However, hydrogel formulations which are 3D printable, electroactive, cytocompatible, and allow cell adhesion, remain a challenge in the design of such stimuli-responsive biomaterials for tissue engineering. Here, a combination of pyrrole with a high gelatin-content oxidized alginate-gelatin (ADA-GEL) hydrogel is reported, offering 3D-printability of hydrogel precursors to prepare cytocompatible and electrically conductive hydrogel scaffolds. By oxidation of pyrrole, electroactive polypyrrole:polystyrenesulfonate (PPy:PSS) is synthesized inside the ADA-GEL matrix. The hydrogels are assessed regarding their electrical/mechanical properties, 3D-printability, and cytocompatibility. It is possible to prepare open-porous scaffolds via bioplotting which are electrically conductive and have a higher cell seeding efficiency in scaffold depth in comparison to flat 2D hydrogels, which is confirmed via multiphoton fluorescence microscopy. The formation of an interpenetrating polypyrrole matrix in the hydrogel matrix increases the conductivity and stiffness of the hydrogels, maintaining the capacity of the gels to promote cell adhesion and proliferation. The results demonstrate that a 3D-printable ADA-GEL can be rendered conductive (ADA-GEL-PPy:PSS), and that such hydrogel formulations have promise for cell therapies, in vitro cell culture, and electrical-stimulation assisted tissue engineering. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Healthcare Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH