Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) is an inexpensive, photocrosslinkable, cell-responsive hydrogel which has drawn attention for a wide range of tissue engineering applications. The potential of GelMA scaffolds was demonstrated to be tunable for different tissue engineering (TE) applications through modifying the polymer concentration, methacrylation degree, or UV light intensity. Despite the promising results of GelMA hydrogels in tissue engineering, the influence of polymer concentration for bone tissue engineering (BTE) scaffolds was not established yet. Thus, in this study, we have demonstrated the effect of polymer concentration in GelMA scaffolds on osteogenic differentiation. We prepared GelMA scaffolds with 5 and 10% polymer concentrations and characterized the scaffolds in terms of porosity, pore size, swelling characteristics, and mechanical properties. Subsequent to the scaffolds characterization, the scaffolds were seeded with bone marrow derived rat mesenchymal stem cells and cultured in osteogenic media to evaluate the possible osteogenic differentiation effect exerted by the polymer concentration. After 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, DNA content, calcium deposition, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of scaffolds were evaluated quantitatively by colorimetric bioassays. Furthermore, the distribution of the calcium deposition within the scaffolds was attained qualitatively and quantitatively by microcomputer tomography (mCT). Our data suggest that GelMA hydrogels prepared with 5% polymer concentration has promoted homogeneous extracellular matrix calcification and it is a great candidate for BTE applications.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive diagnostic imaging tool based on the detection of protons into the tissues. This imaging technique is remarkable because of high spatial resolution, strong soft tissue contrast and specificity, and good depth penetration. However, MR imaging of hard tissues, such as bone and teeth, remains challenging due to low proton content in such tissues as well as to very short transverse relaxation times (T 2). To overcome these issues, new MRI techniques, such as sweep imaging with Fourier transformation (SWIFT), ultrashort echo time (UTE) imaging, and zero echo time (ZTE) imaging, have been developed for hard tissues imaging with promising results reported. Within this article, MRI techniques developed for the detection of hard tissues, such as bone and dental tissues, have been reviewed. The main goal was thus to give a comprehensive overview on the corresponding (pre-) clinical applications and on the potential future directions with such techniques applied. In addition, a section dedicated to MR imaging of novel biomaterials developed for hard tissue applications was given as well.
Bone tissue engineering is a rapidly growing field which is currently progressing toward clinical applications. Effective imaging methods for longitudinal studies are critical to evaluating the new bone formation and the fate of the scaffolds. Computed tomography (CT) is a prevailing technique employed to investigate hard tissue scaffolds; however, the CT signal becomes weak in mainly-water containing materials, which hinders the use of CT for hydrogels-based materials. Nevertheless, hydrogels such as gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) are widely used for tissue regeneration due to their optimal biological properties and their ability to induce extracellular matrix formation. To date, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been suggested as promising contrast agents, due to their high X-ray attenuation, biocompatibility, and low toxicity. In this study, the effects of different sizes and concentrations of AuNPs on the mechanical properties and the cytocompatibility of the bulk GelMA-AuNPs scaffolds were evaluated. Furthermore, the enhancement of CT contrast with the cytocompatible size and concentration of AuNPs were investigated. 3D printed GelMA and GelMA-AuNPs scaffolds were obtained and assessed for the osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Lastly, 3D printed GelMA and GelMA-AuNPs scaffolds were scanned in a bone defect utilizing µCT as the proof of concept that the GelMA-AuNPs are good candidates for bone tissue engineering with enhanced visibility for µCT imaging.
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