Bacterial cellulose-based hydrogel with antibacterial activity and vascularization for wound healing.

Skin wounds need an appropriate wound dressing to help prevent bacterial infection and accelerate wound closure. Bacterial cellulose (BC) with a three-dimensional (3D) network structure is an important commercial dressing. However, how to effectively load antibacterial agents and balance the antibacterial activity is a lingering issue. Herein, this study aims to develop a functional BC hydrogel containing silver-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) antibacterial agent. The tensile strength of the prepared biopolymer dressing is >1 MPa, the swelling property is over 3000 %, the temperature can reach 50 °C in 5 min with near-infrared (NIR) and the release of Ag+ and Zn2+ is stable. In vitro investigation shows that the hydrogel displays enhanced antibacterial activity, and the bacteria survival ratios are only 0.85 % and 0.39 % against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In vitro cell experiments present that BC/polydopamine/ZIF-8/Ag (BC/PDA/ZIF-8/Ag) shows satisfactory biocompatibility and promising angiogenic ability. In vivo study, the full-thickness skin defect on rats demonstrates remarkably wound healing ability and accelerated skin re-epithelialization. This work presents a competitive functional dressing with effective antibacterial properties and accelerative angiogenesis activities for wound repair.

Three-dimensional poly (ε-caprolactone)/hydroxyapatite/collagen scaffolds incorporating bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for the repair of bone defects.

We previously demonstrated that three-dimensional (3D) hydroxyapatite (HAP)-collagen (COL)-coated poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds (HAP-COL-PCL) possess appropriate nano-structures, surface roughness, and nutrients, providing a favorable environment for osteogenesis. However, the effect of using 3D HAP-COL-PCL scaffolds incorporating BMSCs for the repair of bone defects in rats has been not evaluated. 3D PCL scaffolds coated with HAP, collagen or HAP/COL and incorporating BMSCs were implanted into calvarial defects. At 12 weeks after surgery, the rats were sacrificed and crania were harvested to assess the bone defect repair using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT), histology, immunohistochemistry and sequential fluorescent labeling analysis. 3D micro-CT reconstructed images and quantitative analysis showed that HAP-COL-PCL groups possessed better bone-forming capacity than HAP-PCL groups or COL-PCL groups. Fluorescent labeling analysis revealed the percentage of tetracycline labeling, alizarin red labeling, and calcein labeling in HAP-COL-PCL groups were all greater than in the other two groups (P < 0.05), and the result was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining and histological analysis of bone regeneration. This study demonstrates that 3D HAP-COL-PCL scaffolds incorporating BMSCs markedly enhance bone regeneration of bone defects in rats.

Three-dimensional printing of strontium-containing mesoporous bioactive glass scaffolds for bone regeneration.

In this study, we fabricated strontium-containing mesoporous bioactive glass (Sr-MBG) scaffolds with controlled architecture and enhanced mechanical strength using a three-dimensional (3-D) printing technique. The study showed that Sr-MBG scaffolds had uniform interconnected macropores and high porosity, and their compressive strength was ∼170 times that of polyurethane foam templated MBG scaffolds. The physicochemical and biological properties of Sr-MBG scaffolds were evaluated by ion dissolution, apatite-forming ability and proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, osteogenic expression and extracelluar matrix mineralization of osteoblast-like cells MC3T3-E1. The results showed that Sr-MBG scaffolds exhibited a slower ion dissolution rate and more significant potential to stabilize the pH environment with increasing Sr substitution. Importantly, Sr-MBG scaffolds possessed good apatite-forming ability, and stimulated osteoblast cells' proliferation and differentiation. Using dexamethasone as a model drug, Sr-MBG scaffolds also showed a sustained drug delivery property for use in local drug delivery therapy, due to their mesoporous structure. Therefore, the 3-D printed Sr-MBG scaffolds combined the advantages of Sr-MBG such as good bone-forming bioactivity, controlled ion release and drug delivery and enhanced mechanical strength, and had potential application in bone regeneration.