Bioartificial scaffolds

DESIGN OF IDEAL SCAFFOLD FOR EXTRACORPOREAL BIOARTIFICIAL LIVER (BAL) OR IMPLANTABLE ARTIFICIAL ORGAN... 

Wollenweber, M. Domaschke, H. Hanke, T. Boxbetger, S. Schmack, G. GUesche, K. Schamweber, D. Worch, H. Mimicked bioartificial matrix containing chondroitin sulphate on a textile scaffold of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) alters the differentiation of adult human mesenchymal stem cells. Tissue Eng. 2006 February, 12(2), 345-359. 

Chitosan can be incorporated into composite materials to create scaffolds with cellbinding and mechanical properties that vary from pure chitosan. Chitosan cross-linked with collagen has been investigated as a candidate for use as a matrix to support a bioartificial liver. The study showed... 

Stably immobilized 3D flat aggregates and exhibited superior cell bioactivity with higher levels of liver-specific function maintenance in terms of albumin secretion, urea synthesis and cytochrome P-450 enzyme than 3D spheroid aggregates formed on GC films. These results suggested that the GC-based nanofibrous scaffolds could be useful for various applications such as bioartificial liver-assist devices and tissue engineering for liver regeneration as primary hepatocytes culture substrates. 

The inertness of polymers could prove very beneficial if they possessed certain bulk properties such as electrical or magnetic susceptibility that one could exploit. We believe that the electroactive polymers, namely electronically and ionically conducting polymers, piezoelectrics, and electrets, by virtue of their susceptibility to either mechanical or electromagnetic or thermal or optical phenomena, could be utilized to interface between the external world and the physiological environment and could prove quite beneficial in eliciting the desired cellular response. These polymers represents a new modality in the development of interactive scaffolds for tissue stimulation, tissue regeneration, and the development of bioartificial organs. 

The configuration of the tissue engineering bioreactor and the culturing conditions can vary widely. One example is the well-stirred bioreactor where several scaffolds seeded with cells are fixed on needles and cultured in continuously stirred media. This is the so-called dynamic tissue culture method that has been shown to promote both cell proliferation and ECM component deposition in bioartificial tissues [137-139]. However, the aforementioned multiscale model can handle other reactor configurations by appropriately changing the boundary condition [2] of the diffusion-reaction problem. 

Wulf, K., Teske, M., Lobler, M., et al. Surface functionalization of poly(E-caprolactone) improves its biocompatibility as scaffold material for bioartificial vessel prostheses. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B Appl. Biomater. 98B, 89-100 (2011). doi 10.1002/jbm.b.31836... 

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