Development of Biodegradable Bio-Based Composite for Bone Tissue Engineering: Synthesis, Characterization and In Vitro Biocompatible Evaluation.

Several significant advancements in the field of bone regenerative medicine have been made in recent years. However, therapeutic options, such as bone grafts, have several drawbacks. There is a need to develop an adequate bone substitute. As a result, significant bone defects/injuries pose a severe challenge for orthopaedic and reconstructive bone tissue. We synthesized polymeric composite material from arabinoxylan (ARX), ß-glucan (BG), nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp), graphene oxide (GO), acrylic acid (AAc) through free radical polymerization and porous scaffold fabricated using the freeze-drying technique. These fabricated porous scaffolds were then coated with chitosan solution to enhance their biological activities. The complex structure of BG, nHAp, GO was studied through various characterization and biological assays. The structural, morphological, wetting and mechanical analyses were determined using FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM/EXD, water contact angle and UTM. The swelling (aqueous and PBS media) and degradation (PBS media) observed their behavior in contact with body fluid. The biological activities were conducted against mouse pre-osteoblast cell lines. The result found that BGH3 has desirable morphological, structural with optimum swelling, degradation, and mechanical behavior. It was also found to be cytocompatible against MC3T3-E1 cell lines. The obtained results confirmed that the fabricated polymeric scaffolds would be a potential bone substitute to regenerate defective bone with different loading bearing applications for bone tissue engineering.

Catalyst-Free Crosslinking Modification of Nata-de-Coco-Based Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibres Using Citric Acid for Biomedical Applications.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has gained attention among researchers in materials science and bio-medicine due to its fascinating properties. However, BC's fibre collapse phenomenon (i.e., its inability to reabsorb water after dehydration) is one of the drawbacks that limit its potential. To overcome this, a catalyst-free thermal crosslinking reaction was employed to modify BC using citric acid (CA) without compromising its biocompatibility. FTIR, XRD, SEM/EDX, TGA, and tensile analysis were carried out to evaluate the properties of the modified BC (MBC). The results confirm the fibre crosslinking phenomenon and the improvement of some properties that could be advantageous for various applications. The modified nanofibre displayed an improved crystallinity and thermal stability with increased water absorption/swelling and tensile modulus. The MBC reported here can be used for wound dressings and tissue scaffolding.