Xiumei Wang

Inspired by electrically active tissues, conductive materials have been extensively developed for electrically active tissue engineering scaffolds. In addition to excellent conductivity, nanocomposite conductive materials can also provide nanoscale structure similar to the natural extracellular microenvironment. Recently, the combination of three-dimensional (3D) printing and nanotechnology has opened up a new era of conductive tissue engineering scaffolds exhibiting optimized properties and multifunctionality. Furthermore, in the case of two-dimensional (2D) conductive film scaffolds such as periosteum, nerve membrane, skin repair, etc., the traditional preparation process, such as solvent casting, produces 2D films with defects of unequal bubbles and thickness frequently. In this study, poly-l-lactide (PLLA) conductive scaffolds incorporated with polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles, which have multiscale structure similar to natural tissue, were prepared by combining extrusion-based low-temperature deposition 3D printing with freeze-drying. Furthermore, we creatively integrated the advantages of 3D printing and solvent casting and successfully developed a 2D conductive film scaffold with no bubbles, uniform thickness, and good structural stability. Subsequently, the effects of concentration and morphology of PPy nanoparticles on electrical properties and mechanical properties of 3D conductive scaffolds and 2D conductive films scaffolds have been studied, which provided a new idea for the design of both 2D and 3D electroactive tissue engineering scaffolds.

Rib segment, as one of the most widely used autologous boneresources for bone repair, is commonly isolated with an empty left in the defect. Although defective rib repair is thought to be unnecessary traditionally, it’s of vital importance actually to promote rib regeneration for patients with better postoperative recovery and higher life quality. Comparative investigations on rabbit rib bone regeneration with and without graft were reported in this article. A segmental defect was performed on the 8th rib of 4-month-old male New Zealand rabbits. The mineralized collagen bone graft (MC) was implanted into the defect and evaluated for up to 12 weeks. The rib bone repair was investigated by using X-ray at 4, 8 and 12 weeks and histological examinations at 12 weeks after surgery, which showed a higher bone remodeling activity in the groups with MC implantation in comparison with blank control group, especially at the early stage of remodeling.

In this study, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were cultured on the hydroxyapatite (HA) and mineralized collagen (MC), and their proliferation, adhesion and differentiation, especially the molecular mechanisms on gene level were investigated. Proliferation and morphological responses of hMSCs and their osteogenic differentiation were detected by quantitative detection of alkaline phosphatase. Gene expression profilings were examined by microarrays and the gene expressions data were studied through gene ontology terms and pathway analyses. The results showed that MC promoted cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs. Microarray analysis showed that MC was conducive to express osteogenesis-related genes, such as BMP-2, COL1A1, CTSK, and stimulate osteogenic differentiation, like osteoblast differentiation pathway and skeletal system development pathway.

Four self-assembled monolayer surfaces terminated with –COOH, –OH, –NH₂ and –CH₃ functional groups are used to direct the biomineralization processes of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) in low Ca²⁺ concentration, and the mechanism of nucleation and initial crystallization within 12 h was further explored. On −COOH surface, nucleation occurs mainly via ion aggregation mechanism while prenucleation ions clusters may be also involved. On −OH and −NH₂ surfaces, however, nucleation forms via calcium carbonate clusters, which aggregate in solution and then are adsorbed onto surfaces following with nucleation of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC). Furthermore, strongly negative-charged −COOH surface facilitates the direct formation of calcites, and the −OH and −NH₂ surfaces determine the formation of vaterites with preferred crystalline orientations. Neither ACC nor crystalline CaCO₃ is observed on −CH₃ surface. Our findings present a valuable model to understand the CaCO₃ biomineralization pathway in natural system where functional groups composition plays a determining role during calcium carbonate crystallization.