With the aim of forming bioactive guides for peripheral nerve regeneration, silk fibroin was electrospun to obtain aligned nanofibers. These fibers were functionalized by incorporating Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and Ciliary NeuroTrophic Factor (CNTF) during electrospinning. PC12 cells grown on the fibers confirmed the bioavailability and bioactivity of the NGF, which was not significantly releas...

Copper particles were incorporated into nanofibers during the electrospinning of poly-D,L-lactide (PDLLA) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The ability of the nanofibers to prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 and Staphylococcus aureus (strain Xen 30) to form biofilms was tested. Nanofibers containing copper particles (Cu-F) were thinner (326 ± 149 nm in diameter), compared to nanofibers without c...

Engineering applications of carbon nanofibers and nanotubes require their alignment in specific directions. Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be aligned in a magnetic field due to the presence of small amounts of catalyst elements, such as Ni and Co. However, for carbon nanofibers, their extremely low magnetic susceptibility is not sufficient for magnetically induced alignment. We present a me...

Endothelial cells can protect cardiomyocytes from injury, but the mechanism of this protection is incompletely described. Here we demonstrate that protection of cardiomyocytes by endothelial cells occurs through PDGF-BB signaling. PDGF-BB induced cardiomyocyte Akt phosphorylation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and prevented apoptosis via PI3K/Akt signaling. Using injectable self-assemblin...

Internal mesostructures of silica nanofibers were dramatically changed through controlled interfacial interactions of confined lyotropic block copolymer systems in nanocylinders, which were further used as structure-directing templates for the fabrication of porous gold nanofibers with unprecedented nanoarchitectures.

The current of uni-axially aligned electrospun ZnO nanofibers is modulated reversibly under UV irradiation, with the sensitivity of the UV nanosensors depending on the surface coating of the nanofibers, due to the effect on the photo-generated current.

The recent development of photonics and applications puts new challenges for systems using emission, transmission and modulation of light. For these reasons, novel optical materials attract a special interest for their enabling properties for novel technologies. In this work, we performed the research on fundamental properties and the possibility of implementation of electro-optical response of...

Electrospinning of nanofibers with cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (CD-ICs) is particularly attractive since distinct properties can be obtained by combining the nanofibers with specific functions of the CD-ICs. Here we report on the electrospinning of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanofibers containing cyclodextrin-menthol inclusion complexes (CD-menthol-ICs). These CD-menthol-IC functiona...

In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to reveal the early-stage change of nanomorphology and nanomechanical properties of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers in a time-resolved manner during the mineralization process. Electrospun PLA nanofibers were soaked in simulated body fluid (SBF) for different periods ...