Major efforts for the advancement of tubular-shaped implant fabrication focused recently on the development of 3D printing methods that can enable the fabrication of complete devices in a single printing process. However, the main limitation of these solutions is the use of non-biocompatible polymers. Therefore, a new technology for obtaining hybrid implants that employ polymer extrusion and electrophoretic deposition is applied. The fabricated structures are made of two layers: polycaprolactone skeleton and chitosan–hydroxyapatite electrodeposit. Both of them can be functionalized by incorporation of mechanical or biological cues that favor ingrowth, guidance, and correct targeting of axons. The electrodeposition process is conducted at different voltages in order to determine the influence of this process on the structural, chemical, and mechanical properties of implants. In addition, changes in mechanical properties of implants during their incubation in phosphate-buffered solution (pH 7.4) at 37 °C up to 28 days are examined. The presented technology, being low-cost and relatively simple, shall find a broad scope of applications in customized nerve tissue engineering.

Tubular-shaped layer electrodeposition from chitosan-hydroxyapatite colloidal solutions has found application in the field of regeneration or replacement of cylindrical tissues and organs, especially peripheral nerve tissue regeneration. Nevertheless, the quantitative and qualitative characterisation of this phenomenon has not been described. In this work, the colloidal systems are subjected to the action of an electric current initiated at different voltages. Parameters of the electrodeposition process (i.e., total charge exchanged, gas volume, and deposit thickness) are monitored over time. Deposit structures are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The value of voltage influences structural characteristics but not thickness of deposit for the process lasting at least 20 min. The calculated number of exchanged electrons for studied conditions suggests that the mechanism of deposit formation is governed not only by water electrolysis but also interactions between formed hydroxide ions and calcium ions coordinated by chitosan chains.

The derivatives of 3-formyl-2(1H)-quinolones and N-methyl-3-formyl-2-quinolones substituted in the 6position with either a methyl or a methoxy group were synthesised and evaluated as potential sensors for the detection of thiol amino acids. Their spectroscopic properties, including absorption and emission spectra, fluorescence quantum yields and singlet lifetimes, were examined. The behaviour of the obtained compounds was studied at pH 7.4 in the presence of various amino acids. The results show that these compounds demonstrate a high turn-off fluorescence response and selectivity toward L-cysteine in the presence of other amino acids, and have the potential to act as sensors to L-cysteine.