Antibacterial Ferroelectric Hybrid Membranes Fabricated via Electrospinning for Wound Healing.

In the present study, wound healing ferroelectric membranes doped with zinc oxide nanoparticles were fabricated from vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer and polyvinylpyrrolidone using the electrospinning technique. Five different ratios of vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene to polyvinylpyrrolidone were used to control the properties of the membranes at a constant zinc oxide nanoparticle content. It was found that an increase of polyvinylpyrrolidone content leads to a decrease of the spinning solution conductivity and viscosity, causing a decrease of the average fiber diameter and reducing their strength and elongation. By means of X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy, it was revealed that increased polyvinylpyrrolidone content leads to difficulty in crystallization of the vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer in the ferroelectric ß-phase in membranes. Changing the ratio of vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer and polyvinylpyrrolidone with a constant content of zinc oxide nanoparticles is an effective approach to control the antibacterial properties of membranes towards Staphylococcus aureus. After carrying out in vivo experiments, we found that ferroelectric hybrid membranes, containing from five to ten mass percent of PVP, have the greatest wound-healing effect for the healing of purulent wounds.

Poly(ε-caprolactone) Scaffolds Doped with c-Jun N-terminal Kinase Inhibitors Modulate Phagocyte Activation.

The modulation of phagocyte responses is essential for successful performance of biomaterials in order to prevent negative outcomes associated with inflammation. Herein, we developed electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds doped with the novel potent c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitors 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one oxime (IQ-1) and 11H-indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one O-(O-ethylcarboxymethyl) oxime(IQ-1E) as a promising approach for modulating phagocyte activation. Optimized electrospinning parameters allowed us to produce microfiber composite materials with suitable mechanical properties. We found that embedded compounds were bound to the polymer matrix via hydrophobic interactions and released in two steps, with release mostly controlled by Fickian diffusion. The fabricated scaffolds doped with active compounds IQ-1 and IQ-1E effectively inhibited phagocyte inflammatory responses. For example, they suppressed human neutrophil activation by the biomaterials, as indicated by decreased neutrophil reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and Ca2+ mobilization. In addition, they inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NF-κB/AP-1 reporter activity in THP-1Blue cells and interleukin (IL)-6 production in MonoMac-6 cells without affecting cell viability. These effects were attributed to the released compounds rather than cell-surface interactions. Therefore, our study demonstrates that doping tissue engineering scaffolds with novel JNK inhibitors represents a powerful tool for preventing adverse immune responses to biomaterials as well as serves as a platform for drug delivery.

A new approach for the immobilization of poly(acrylic) acid as a chemically reactive cross-linker on the surface of poly(lactic) acid-based biomaterials.

A new approach for the immobilization of poly(acrylic) acid (PAA) as a chemically reactive cross-linker on the surface of poly(lactic) acid-based (PLA) biomaterials is described. The proposed technique includes non-covalent attachment of a PAA layer to the surface of PLA-based biomaterial via biomaterial surface treatment with solvent/non-solvent mixture followed by the entrapment of PAA from its solution. Surface morphology and wettability of the obtained PLA-PAA composite materials were investigated by AFM and the sitting drop method respectively. The amount of the carboxyl groups on the composites surface was determined by using the fluorescent compounds (2-(5-aminobenzo[d]oxazol-2-yl)phenol (ABO) and its acyl derivative N-(2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)benzo[d]oxazol-5-yl)acetamide (AcABO)). It was shown that it is possible to obtain PLA-PAA composites with various surface relief and tunable wettability (57°, 62° and 66°). The capacity of the created PAA layer could be varied from 1.5nmol/cm2 to 0.1µmol/cm2 depending on the modification conditions. Additionally, using bovine serum albumin (BSA) it was demonstrated that such composites could be modified with proteins with high binding density (around 0.18nmol/cm2). Obtained fluoro-labeled PLA-PAA materials, as well as PLA-PAA composites themselves, are valuable since they can be used for biodegradable polymer implants tracking in living systems and as drug delivery systems.