Enhanced understanding of the signals within the microenvironment that regulate cell fate has led to the development of increasingly sophisticated polymeric biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. This advancement is exemplified by biomaterials with precisely controlled scaffold architecture that regulate the spatio-temporal release of growth factors and morp...

Biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric scaffolds have been recently introduced for tissue regeneration purpose. In the present study we aimed to develop polymeric-based scaffolds for bone regeneration. Two polyesters, poly-beta-propiolactone (PBPL), poly-epsilon-caprolactone (PCPL) and two polyfumarates, polydiisopropyl fumarate (PDIPF), polydicyclohexyl fumarate (PDCF) were chosen to prepar...

9 Recent advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have shown that controlling cells 10 micro-environment during growth is a key element to the development of successful therapeutic 11 system. To achieve such control, researchers have first proposed the use of polymeric scaffolds that 12 were able to support cellular growth and, to a certain extent, favor cell organization and ti...

SUMMARY Currently implanted prosthetic heart valves, both mechanical or biological ones, are used to restore the proper blood hemodynamics when the native valves fail. However, these medical devices are not free from drawbacks, such as hemolysis or calcification, also presenting the relevant disadvantage of being unable to growth, repair and remodel. An improvement could be represented by biore...

Stem cell therapy has emerged as the most vibrant area of research, due to capacity stem cells for self-renewal and differentiation into different types lines upon their culture. But lately, scientists become increasingly aware limitations conventional 2D culture media, several key drawbacks associated with this model, such immune response transplantation, animal pathogen contamination, complic...

AIMS A potential therapy for myocardial infarction is to deliver isolated stem cells to the infarcted site. A key issue with this therapy is to have at one's disposal a suitable cell delivery system which, besides being able to support cell proliferation and differentiation, may also provide handling and elastic properties which do not affect cardiac contractile function. In this study an elast...

In tissue engineering, polymer-based scaffolds play an important role via cell adhesion, proliferation, and regeneration in three-dimensional (3D) structures, exhibiting great potential a variety of tissues. For fabrication scaffolds, the particulate-leaching method thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) are popular procedures. However, complete interconnectivity porous structure has not bee...

Fc-receptors (FcR) are widely expressed on cells of the immune system. FcμR is a transmembrane protein with an extracellular Ig-like domain homologous to the FcR for both IgA and IgM (Fca/μR) and the polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR). FcμR is expressed on CD19+B cells, CD4+/CD8+ T cells, and CD56+/CD3NK cells. In addition, several groups have reported that FcμR is overexpressed in chronic lymphocyti...

The aim of this study was the in vitro investigation of the change in mechanical properties of a fast-degrading electro-spun polymeric scaffold for the use in soft tissue regenerative implants. Tubular scaffolds were electro-spun from a DegraPol® D30 polyesther-urethane solution (target outer diameter: 5.0 mm; scaffold wall thickness: 0.99 ± 0.18 mm). Scaffold samples were subjected to hydrolyt...

AIMS Metal absorbable scaffolds constitute a conceptually attractive alternative to polymeric scaffolds. Promising 6-month outcomes of a second-generation drug-eluting absorbable metal scaffold (DREAMS 2G), consisting of an absorbable magnesium scaffold backbone, have been reported. We assessed the 12-month safety and performance of this novel device. METHODS AND RESULTS The prospective, inte...