In this work, a coating of chitosan onto alginate hydrogels was realized using the water-soluble hydrochloride form of chitosan (CH-Cl), with the dual purpose of imparting antibacterial activity and delaying the release of hydrophilic molecules from the alginate matrix. Alginate hydrogels with different calcium contents were prepared by the internal setting method and coated by immersion in a C...

Osteoarthritis is a painful degenerative joint disease that could be better managed if tissue engineers can develop methods to create long-term engineered articular cartilage tissue substitutes. Many of the tissue engineered cartilage constructs currently available lack the chemical stimuli and cell-friendly environment that promote the matrix accumulation and cell proliferation needed for use ...

The aim of the present study was to develop a tissue-engineering approach through alginate gel molding to mimic cartilage tissue in a three-dimensional culture system. The perfusion biomimetic bioreactor was designed to mimic natural joint. The shear stresses exerting on the bioreactor chamber were calculated by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD). Several alginate/bovine chondrocyte constructs w...

BACKGROUND Adverse cardiac remodeling and progression of heart failure after myocardial infarction are associated with excessive and continuous damage to the extracellular matrix. We hypothesized that injection of in situ-forming alginate hydrogel into recent and old infarcts would provide a temporary scaffold and attenuate adverse cardiac remodeling and dysfunction. METHODS AND RESULTS We de...

Alginate beads containing diltiazem hydrochloride (DTZ) were prepared by the ionotropic gelation method. The effects of various factors (alginate concentration, additives type, calcium chloride concentration and curing time) on the efficiency of drug loading were investigated. The formulation containing a mixture of 0.8% methylcellulose (MC) and 4% alginate cured in 2% calcium chloride for 6 h ...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE To investigate the effect of nanosilver particles in solution stabilized in a matrix of sodium alginate on the growth and development of pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter cloacae, the antibiotic-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans, and the lu...

The alginate bead culture system has unique properties that make it possible to study the accumulation and turnover of macromolecules in two distinct matrix compartments of the cartilage matrix: the cell-associated matrix (CM) and the further removed matrix (FRM). Taking advantage of this culture system, the purpose of this study was to examine age-related changes in the metabolism of hyalurona...

Articular chondrocytes embedded in alginate gel produce de novo a matrix rich in collagens and proteoglycans. A major advantage of this culture system is that the cells can be recovered by chelating the calcium, which otherwise maintains the alginate in its gel state. Chondrocytes thus released are surrounded by tightly bound cell-associated matrix, which seems to correspond to the pericellular...

Biocompatible polymer solutions that can crosslink in situ following injection to form stable hydrogels are of interest as depots for sustained delivery of therapeutic factors or cells, and as scaffolds for regenerative medicine. Here, injectable self-gelling alginate formulations obtained by mixing alginate microspheres (as calcium reservoirs) with soluble alginate solutions were characterized...

Bovine chondrocytes were cultured in monolayers and alginate beads with or without ascorbic acid (Asc) for 16 days. Cell proliferation was examined every 4 days by staining with Hoechst 33258 dye. The gene expression of aggrecan, and collagen type I and II was analyzed at 16 days by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. Cell morphology and the production of extracellular matrix (...