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Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2023) | Viewed by 13434

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Dr. Ana Ferreira-Duarte

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School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: engineering bioinspired materials; biomimetic systems; micro-encapsulation approaches; surface functionalisation for tissue engineering; regenerative medicine
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Dr. Piergiorgio Gentile

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: biomaterials; biocompatibility; biomedical engineering; tissue engineering; bone regeneration; regenerative medicine; biomedical science; biomaterial engineering; nanobiotechnology; wound healing
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the longevity of the population increases, there is an urgent clinical need for developing costeffective therapies and surgical procedures to replace or regenerate damaged tissue as a consequence of disease or trauma. Tissue engineering approaches seeks to apply principles and methods of engineering and life sciences to regenerate damaged tissues, traditionally by combining human cells with 3D biomaterial scaffolds for assuring a thriving cells microenvironment and new tissue formation. Although there has been exponential economical growth in the tissue engineering sector (circa US$240 million per annum) in recent decades, the translation of tissue engineering products into clinics and commercial arenas has involved several challenges and limitations. Tissue engineering relies on the ability to mimic native tissue, and there are related limitations on harnessing innate regenerative capacity and vasculature. Progress in biomaterials and biofabrication technologies for scaffolds fabrications will enable one to re-capitulate key features present in native tissues by developing more sophisticated biomimetic materials and structures with improved ability to regenerate tissues. This Special Issue aims to collect recent findings and progress in the field of tissue engineering, by describing (1) recent advances in functional biomaterials, and scaffold biofabrication technologies and approaches; (2) current challenges and opportunities in research for rapidly advancing the field towards improving human health in a variety of areas; and (3) requirements and progress in tissue engineering technologies for clinical translation and commercial applications. This research topic will contribute to informing the scientific community about recent advances and directions in the field of ‘’Functional Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering’’.

Dr. Ana Ferreira-Duarte
Dr. Piergiorgio Gentile
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 9637 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Strong and Tough β-TCP/PCL Composite Scaffolds with Interconnected Porosity by Digital Light Processing and Partial Infiltration

by Yanlong Wu, Ruomeng Chen, Xu Chen, Yongqiang Yang, Jian Qiao and Yaxiong Liu

Materials 2023, 16(3), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16030947 - 19 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1511

Abstract

Strong and tough β-TCP/PCL composite scaffolds with interconnected porosity were developed by combining digital light processing and vacuum infiltration. The composite scaffolds were comprised of pure β-TCP, β-TCP matrix composite and PCL matrix composite. The porous β-TCP/PCL composite scaffolds showed remarkable mechanical advantages compared with ceramic scaffolds with the same macroscopic pore structure (dense scaffolds). The composite scaffolds exhibited a significant increase in strain energy density and fracture energy density, though with similar compressive and flexural strengths. Moreover, the composite scaffolds had a much higher Weibull modulus and longer fatigue life than the dense scaffolds. It was revealed that the composite scaffolds with interconnected porosity possess comprehensive mechanical properties (high strength, excellent toughness, significant reliability and fatigue resistance), which suggests that they could replace the pure ceramic scaffolds for degradable bone substitutes, especially in complex stress environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering)

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15 pages, 5637 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabrication and Characterization of PCL/PLGA Coaxial and Bilayer Fibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

by Morteza Bazgir, Wei Zhang, Ximu Zhang, Jacobo Elies, Morvarid Saeinasab, Phil Coates, Mansour Youseffi and Farshid Sefat

Materials 2021, 14(21), 6295; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216295 - 22 Oct 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2123

Abstract

Electrospinning is an innovative new fibre technology that aims to design and fabricate membranes suitable for a wide range of tissue engineering (TE) applications including vascular grafts, which is the main objective of this research work. This study dealt with fabricating and characterising bilayer structures comprised of an electrospun sheet made of polycaprolactone (PCL, inner layer) and an outer layer made of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) and a coaxial porous scaffold with a micrometre fibre structure was successfully produced. The membranes’ propriety for intended biomedical applications was assessed by evaluating their morphological structure/physical properties and structural integrity when they underwent the degradation process. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to assess changes in the electrospun scaffolds’ structural morphology such as in their fibre diameter, pore size (μm) and the porosity of the scaffold surface which was measured with Image J software. During the 12-week degradation process at room temperature, most of the scaffolds showed a similar trend in their degradation rate except the 60 min scaffolds. The coaxial scaffold had significantly less mass loss than the bilayer PCL/PLGA scaffold with 1.348% and 18.3%, respectively. The mechanical properties of the fibrous membranes were measured and the coaxial scaffolds showed greater tensile strength and elongation at break (%) compared to the bilayer scaffolds. According to the results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that a scaffold made with a coaxial needle is more suitable for tissue engineering applications due to the improved quality and functionality of the resulting polymeric membrane compared to the basic electrospinning process. However, whilst fabricating a vascular graft is the main aim of this research work, the biological data will not present in this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering)

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18 pages, 6245 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Degradation and Characterisation of Electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) and Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) Scaffolds for Vascular Tissue Engineering

by Morteza Bazgir, Wei Zhang, Ximu Zhang, Jacobo Elies, Morvarid Saeinasab, Phil Coates, Mansour Youseffi and Farshid Sefat

Materials 2021, 14(17), 4773; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14174773 - 24 Aug 2021

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 3757

Abstract

The current study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and the effects of degradation on the structural properties of Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)- and polycaprolactone (PCL)-based nanofibrous scaffolds. Six scaffolds were prepared by electrospinning, three with PCL 15% (w/v) and three with PLGA 10% (w/v), with electrospinning processing times of 30, 60 and 90 min. Both types of scaffolds displayed more robust mechanical properties with increased spinning times. The tensile strength of both scaffolds with 90-min electrospun membranes did not show a significant difference in their strengths, as the PCL and PLGA scaffolds measured at 1.492 MPa ± 0.378 SD and 1.764 MPa ± 0.7982 SD, respectively. All membranes were shown to be hydrophobic under a wettability test. A degradation behaviour study was performed by immersing all scaffolds in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution at room temperature for 12 weeks and for 4 weeks at 37 °C. The effects of degradation were monitored by taking each sample out of the PBS solution every week, and the structural changes were investigated under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The PCL and PLGA scaffolds showed excellent fibre structure with adequate degradation, and the fibre diameter, measured over time, showed slight increase in size. Therefore, as an example of fibre water intake and progressive degradation, the scaffold’s percentage weight loss increased each week, further supporting the porous membrane’s degradability. The pore size and the porosity percentage of all scaffolds decreased substantially over the degradation period. The conclusion drawn from this experiment is that PCL and PLGA hold great promise for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering)

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Review

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18 pages, 22880 KiB

Open AccessReview

3D Scaffolds to Model the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niche: Applications and Perspectives

by Ada Congrains, Juares Bianco, Renata G. Rosa, Rubia I. Mancuso and Sara T. O. Saad

Materials 2021, 14(3), 569; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14030569 - 26 Jan 2021

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5102

Abstract

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are responsible for the production of blood and immune cells during life. HSC fate decisions are dependent on signals from specialized microenvironments in the bone marrow, termed niches. The HSC niche is a tridimensional environment that comprises cellular, chemical, and physical elements. Introductorily, we will revise the current knowledge of some relevant elements of the niche. Despite the importance of the niche in HSC function, most experimental approaches to study human HSCs use bidimensional models. Probably, this contributes to the failure in translating many in vitro findings into a clinical setting. Recreating the complexity of the bone marrow microenvironment in vitro would provide a powerful tool to achieve in vitro production of HSCs for transplantation, develop more effective therapies for hematologic malignancies and provide deeper insight into the HSC niche. We previously demonstrated that an optimized decellularization method can preserve with striking detail the ECM architecture of the bone marrow niche and support HSC culture. We will discuss the potential of this decellularized scaffold as HSC niche model. Besides decellularized scaffolds, several other methods have been reported to mimic some characteristics of the HSC niche. In this review, we will examine these models and their applications, advantages, and limitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomaterials and Bio-Fabrication of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering)

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