Recent years have seen a considerable growth of research interests in developing novel technologies that permit designable manufacture and controllable manipulation of actuators. Among various fabrication and driving strategies, light has emerged as an enabler to reach this end, contributing to the development of actuators. Several accessible light-mediated manufacturing technologies, such as ultraviolet (UV) lithography and direct laser writing (DLW), are summarized. A series of light-driven strategies including optical trapping, photochemical actuation, and photothermal actuation for controllable manipulation of actuators is introduced. Current challenges and future perspectives of this field are discussed. To generalize, light holds great promise for the development of actuators.
Vascularization strategies in cell-based bone tissue engineering depend on optimal culture conditions. The present study aimed to determine optimal cell culture medium and cell ratio for cocultures of human marrow stromal cells (HMSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in view of both osteogenic and angiogenic outcome parameters upon two-dimensional and three-dimensional culture conditions. Cultures were performed in four different media: osteoblastic cell proliferation medium, osteogenic medium (OM), endothelial medium, and a 1:1 mixture of the latter two media. Mineralization within the cocultures was observed only in OM. Subsequent experiments in OM showed that alkaline phosphatase activity, mineralization, and CD31(+) staining were highest for cocultures at a 50:50 HMSC/HUVEC ratio. Therefore, the results from the present study show that a HMSC/HUVEC coculture ratio of 50:50 in OM is the best combination to obtain both osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation.
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