Fabrication of Ethosome-Loaded Silk Fibroin/Polyethylene Oxide Nanofibrous Mats by Green Electrospinning

Ethosomes are permeation-enhancing carriers, which significantly promote drug delivery into skin. Thus,the introduction of ethosomes into electrospun nanofibers may result in good effect on transdermal drug delivery. In this work,a novel ethosome-loaded silk fibroin( SF) /polyethylene oxide( PEO) composite nanofiber was fabricated based on a green electrospinning process. The ethosome-loaded SF /PEO nanofiber was round and smooth as shown by scanning electron microscopy( SEM),and the incorporation of ethosome didn’t significantly affect the morphology of the electrospun SF /PEO nanofiber. The data of Fourier transform infrares(FTIR)spectra suggested the existence of ethosome on the SF /PEO nanofiber and the transmission electron microscopy(TEM) clearly showed the distribution of ethosome on the ethosome-loaded SF nanofibers. This ethosome-loaded SF nanofibrous mat may have a promising application in transdermal drug delivery systems.     

Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles with Tunable Shape and Size

The structural and morphological properties of mesoporous silica nanoparticles( MSNs) have dramatical influence on their in vivo biological behaviors,and thereby synthesis of MSNs with well-defined shape and size has recently attracted much more attention in the biomedical field. The synthesis of MSNs with controllable size and shape was presented by controlling the reaction temperature and the concentration of templating agent(cetyltrimethylammonium bromide,CTAB). The results indicated that MSNs were larger in particle size and more round in shape with increasing of the reaction temperature,but their particle size and dispersivity became smaller and poorer as CTAB concentration increased. Therefore,the particle size and shape of MSNs can be tuned by using the optimal synthesis conditions for specific biomedical applications.     

Aldehyde-Sodium Alginate and Amino-Gelatin Preparation as Soft Tissue Adhesive

Sodium alginate and gelatin are both remarkable natural biomaterials; they all have been extensively applied in tissue engineering and other relative fields,due to their low price and good biocompatibility. In this paper,we oxidized sodium alginate with sodium periodate to convert 1,2-hydroxyl groups into aldehyde groups to get aldehyde-sodium alginate（ A-SA）. Gelatin was modified with ethylenediamine（ ED） in the presence of water-soluble1-ethyl-3（ 3-dimethylaminopropyl） carbodiimide（ EDC） to introduce additional amino groups to get amino-gelatin. Upon mixing the A-SA and amino-gelatin aqueous solutions together,a gel rapidly formed based on the Schiff＇s base reaction between the aldehyde groups in A-SA and the amino groups in amino-gelatin.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（ FTIR） analysis confirmed the characteristic peak of Schiff＇s base group in the hydrogel. The gelation time measure has confirmed the gelation time is dependent on the aldehyde group content in A-SA and amino group content in amino-gelatin. The fasted hydrogel formation takes place within 30 s. The entire test suggested that this gel could be a promising candidate as soft tissue adhesive.     

Preparation of Electrospun CdSe-Quantum-Dots-Doped Porous Films

Electrospun porous films doped with the green-synthesized CdSe quantum dots were synthesized. Glycerol was chosen to prepare the quantum dots （ QDs）, with the highest quantum yield of 78.28%. Polycaprolactone （PCL） was electrospun with CdSe QDs to avoid the QDs＇ toxicity and improve the QDs＇ cytocompatibility. The electrospun QDs-doped films preserve the original QDs＇ fluorescence. Pores can be detected from the SEM of the films, predicting the possibility of loading drugs in the cancer therapy. The cell proliferation assay shows excellent cytocompatibility of the eletrospun CdSe-QDs-doped films. The present eletrospun CdSe- QDs-doped porous films are cytocompatibale, highly-fluorescent and ootential to load drugs in cancer therapy.     

Fabrication of a Bi-layer Tubular Scaffold Consisted of a Dense Nanofibrous Inner Layer and a Porous Nanoyarn Outer Layer for Vascular Tissue Engineering

Recent years, it has attracted more attentions to increase the porosity and pore size of nanofibrous scaffolds to provide the for the cells to grow into the small-diameter vascular grafts. In this study, a novel bi-layer tubular scaffold with an inner layer and an outer layer was fabricated. The inner layer was random collagen/poly （ L-lactide-co-caprolactone ） I P （ LLA- CL） ] nanofibrous mat fabricated by conventional electrospinning and the outer layer was aligned collagen/P （LLA-CL） nanoyarns prepared by a dynamic liquid dectrospinning method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR） was used to characterize the chemical structure. Scanning electron microscopy （ SEM ） was employed to observe the morphology of the layers and the cross- sectioned bi-layer tubular scaffold. A liquid displacement method was employed to measure the porosities of the inner and outer layers. Stress-strain curves were obtained to evaluate the mechanical properties of the two different layers and the bi-layer membrane. The diameters of the nanofibers and the nanoyarns were （480 ± 197 ） nm and （ 19.66 ± 4.05 ） μm, respectively. The outer layer had a significantly higher porosity and a larger pore size than those of the inner layer. Furthermore, the bi-layer membrane showed a good mechanical property which was suitable as small-diameter vascular graft. The results indicated that the bi-layer tubular scaffold had a great potential application in small vascular tissue engineering.     

VE TPGS-Loaded Silk Fibroin/Hydroxybutyl Chitosan Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Skin Care Application

Vitamin E（ VE） is an ideal antioxidant and a stabilizing agent in biological membranes. In this study,silk fibroin（ SF） /hydroxybutyl chitosan（ HBC） nanofibrous scaffolds are loaded with VE tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate（ VE TPGS） via electrospinning. SEM images show that the average nanofibrous diameter has no significant difference when the content of VE TPGS increases to 4. 0%（ SF / HBC）. However,the average nanofibrous diameter decreases largely to 200 nm when the VE TPGS content reaches 6. 0%. Furthermore,VE TPGS presents a sustained release behavior from the nanofibrous scaffolds. Cell viability studies of mouse skin fibroblasts（ L929） demonstrate that VE TPGS loaded SF / HBC nanofibrous scaffolds present good cellular compatibility.Moreover,the incorporation of VE TPGS could strengthen the ability of SF / HBC nanofibrous scaffolds on protecting the cells against oxidation stress using the Tertbutyl hydroperoxide（ t-BHP）-induced oxidative injury model. Therefore,VE TPGS-loaded SF /HBC nanofibrous scaffolds might be potential candidates for personal skin care,wound dressing and skin tissue engineering scaffolds.     

导电型静电纺纳米纤维的制备及其表征

以六氟异丙醇(HFIP)为溶剂,乳酸己内酯共聚物(P(LLA-CL))掺杂聚苯胺(PANi)和樟脑磺酸(CPSA)作材料,采用静电纺技术制备导电型纳米纤维膜,并对其纤维的物理学特征进行表征.通过控制导电材料的添加量,探究纳米纤维直径和电导率的变化.研究表明:P(LLA-CL)纳米纤维分布均匀表面光滑,添加聚苯胺的纳米纤维直径变粗,电导率增大.     

3D Nanocomposite Hydrogel Scaffolds Fabricated by Rapid Prototyping for Bone Tissue Engineering

Colloidal gels made of oppositely charged nanoparticles are a novel class of hydrogels and can exhibit pseudoplastic behavior which will enable them to mold easily into specific shapes. These moldable gels can be used as building blocks to self-assemble into integral scaffolds from bottom to up through electrostatic forces. However, they are too weak to maintain scaffold morphology just depending on interparticle interactions such as Van der Waals attraction and electrostatic forces especially for bone tissue engineering. In this study, oppositely charged gelatin nanoparticles were firstly prepared by two-step desolvation method, followed by the mixture with water to form colloid gels. To solve the problem of weak mechanical performance of colloid gels, gelatin macromolecules were introduced into the prepared gels to form blend gels. The blend gels can be easily processed into three-dimensional （3D） porous scaffolds via motor assisted microsyringe （MAM） system, a nozzle-based rapid prototyping technology, under mild conditions. After fabrication the scaffolds were erosslinked by glutaraldehyde （ GA, 25 % solution in water by weight）, then the crosslinked gelatin macromolecules network could form to improve the mechanical properties of colloid gels. The average particle size and zeta potential of gdatin nanoparticles were measured by Nano- ZS instrument. The morphology and microstructures of scaffolds were characterized by macroscopic images. The mechanical properties of the scaffolds were studied by a universal material testing machine.     

Fabrication of Multi-layered Composite Scaffolds by Bi-directional Electrospinning Method

A multi-layered composite scaffolds consisting of poly （ L- ne） （ P （LLA-CL） ）, collagen （COL） and chitosan （CS） were fabricated by a bi-directional electrospinnlng method. Synthetic P （LLA-CL） was used as the middle layer to enhance the strength, while natural COL/CS blending （9： 1, v/v） was used as the bioactive surfaces （inner and outer layers ） to improve the biocompatibility. Each three transitional layers were set between inner/outer layer and middle layer for delamination resistance. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was used to observe the fiber morphology. The Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy （FTIR-ATR） spectra, X- ray diffraction （XRD） and thermogravimetry （TG） tests were used to analyze the physical properties of the scaffolds. The results showed that the modified clectrospinning method bad no negative effect on the components, crystal structure and thermostability of the scaffolds, but could effectively combine the mechanical property of synthetic material and biocompatibility of natural materials. Such method could be applied to the fabrication of composite scaffolds for vascular, skin. and nerve tissue engineering.     

Mineralized Composite Nanofibrous Mats for Bone Tissue Engineering

Composite nanofibrous mats consisting of poly( L-lactideco-ε-caprolactone)( PLCL) and collagen type I( COL) were fabricated by electrospinning,and ten times simulated body fluid(10SBF) were employed to mineralize nanofibrous mats. Ballshaped hydroxyapatite( HA) was deposited on the surface of nanofibrous mats in 1. 5 h at room temperature. Human fetal osteoblasts( hFob) were seeded to investigate their proliferation and differentiation on mineralized composite nanofibrous mats. The results showed that hFob grew well on mineralized composite nanofibrous mats and alkaline phosphatase( ALP) activity of hFob on mineralized composite nanofibrous mats at 14 d was much higher than that on untreated nanofibrous mats. Moreover,the expression of osteocalcin of cells on mineralized composite nanofibrous mats was also much higher than those on untreated nanofibrous mats at 7 d and 14 d. This mineralized composite nanofibrous mats may have a great potential for bone tissue engineering.