There has been a great deal of interest in the use of nanostructured bacterial cellulose membranes for biomedical applications, including tissue implants, wound healing, and drug delivery. However, as bacterial cellulose does not intrinsically present antimicrobial properties, in the present study, antimicrobial bacterial cellulose membranes were obtained by chemical grafting of aminoalkyl groups onto the surface of its nanofibrillar network. This approach intends to mimic intrinsic antimicrobial properties of chitosan. Interestingly, these novel grafted bacterial cellulose membranes (BC-NH2) are simultaneously lethal against S. aureus and E. coli and nontoxic to human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and thus may be useful for biomedical applications. In addition to these biological properties, the bioactive nanostructured BC-NH2 membranes also present improved mechanical and thermal properties.

Bionanocomposite materials, combining the properties of biopolymers and nanostructured materials, are attracting interest of the wider scientific community due to their potential application in design of implants, drug delivery systems, and tissue design platforms. Herein, we report on the use of maleimide-coated silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) as cocross-linkers for the preparation of a bionanocomposite gelatin based hydrogel. Diels-Alder cycloaddition of benzotriazole maleimide (BTM) functionalized Ag NPs and furan containing gelatin in combination with additional amide coupling resulted in stable and biocompatible hybrid nanocomposite. The storage moduli values for the hydrogel are nearly three times higher than that of control hydrogel without NPs indicating a stabilizing role of the covalently bound NPs. Finally, the swelling and drug release properties of the materials as well as the biocompatibility and toxicity tests indicate the biomedical potential of this type of material.

Shape-memory bionanocomposites based on a naturally sourced segmented thermoplastic polyurethane and chitin nanocrystals were synthesized, and their mechanical properties and thermally activated shape-memory behavior were studied. The chitin nanocrystals were incorporated during the synthesis of the prepolymer made from a castor oil-based difunctional polyol and hexamethylene diisocyanate. The polymerization was completed by addition of propanediol, as a corn-sugar based chain extender, bringing the weight content of components from renewable resources to >60%. Thermal analysis of the bionanocomposites revealed a phase-separated morphology, which is composed of soft and hard domains, which bestow the material with two melting transitions at 60 and 125 °C, that are exploitable for a shape memory effect. The soft segment is responsible for temporary shape fixing, while the hard segment crystallites are responsible for the permanent shape. The introduction of small amounts (0.25-2 wt %) of chitin nanocrystals was found to increase the crystallinity of the hard segment by way of nucleation, which in turn improves the shape recovery considerably. The thermally activated shape-memory behavior of the synthesized bionancomposites is exploitable with a programming and release temperature of 60 °C. The materials display good in vitro cell response, as shown by short-term cytotoxicity assays, and therefore, the bionanocomposites appear to be potentially useful for biomedical applications.

A series of bacterial cellulose-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) nanocomposite films was prepared by in situ radical polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), using variable amounts of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as cross-linker. Thin films were obtained, and their physical, chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties were evaluated. The films showed improved translucency compared to BC and enhanced thermal stability and mechanical performance when compared to poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA). Finally, BC/PHEMA nanocomposites proved to be nontoxic to human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) and thus are pointed as potential dry dressings for biomedical applications.

Ultraviolet radiations have many detrimental effects in living organisms that challenge the stability and function of cellular structures. UV exposure also alters the properties and durability of materials and affects their lifetime. It is becoming increasingly important to develop new biocompatible and environmentally friendly materials to address these issues. Inspired by the strategy developed by fish, algae, and microorganisms exposed to UV radiations in confined ecosystems, we have constructed novel UV-protective materials that exclusively consist of natural compounds. Chitosan was chosen as the matrix for grafting mycosporines and mycosporine-like amino acids as the functional components of the active materials. Here, we show that these materials are biocompatible, photoresistant, and thermoresistant, and exhibit a highly efficient absorption of both UV-A and UV-B radiations. Thus, they have the potential to provide an efficient protection against both types of UV radiations and overcome several shortfalls of the current UV-protective products. In practice, the same concept can be applied to other biopolymers than chitosan and used to produce multifunctional materials. Therefore, it has a great potential to be exploited in a broad range of applications in living organisms and nonliving systems.

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Bioresorbable polylactides are one of the most important materials for tissue engineering applications. In this work we have prepared scaffolds based on the two optically pure stereoisomers: poly(L: -lactide) (PLLA) and poly(D: -lactide) (PDLA). The crystalline structure and morphology were evaluated by DSC, AFM and X-ray diffraction. PLLA and PDLA crystallized in the α form and the equimolar PLLA/PDLA blend, crystallized in the stereocomplex form, were analyzed by a proliferation assay in contact with mouse L-929 and human fibroblasts and neonatal keratinocytes for in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation. SEM analysis was conducted to determine the cell morphology, spreading and adhesion when in contact with the different polymer surfaces. The preserved proliferation rate showed in MTT tests and the high colonization on the surface of polylactides observed by SEM denote that PLLA, PDLA and the equimolar PLLA/PDLA are useful biodegradable materials in which the crystalline characteristics can be tuned for specific biomedical applications.

Articular cartilage degeneration is one of the most common causes of pain and disability in middle-aged and older people. Tissue engineering (TE) has shown great therapeutic promise for this condition. The design of cartilage regeneration constructs must take into account the specific characteristics of the cartilaginous matrix, as well as the avascular nature of cartilage and its cells’ peculiar arrangement in isogenic groups. Keeping these factors in mind, we have designed a 3D porous scaffold based on genipin-crosslinked chitosan/chitin nanocrystals for spheroid chondral differentiation of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs) induced in hypoxic conditions. First, we demonstrated that, under low oxygen conditions, the chondrospheroids obtained express cartilage-specific markers including collagen type II (COL2A1) and aggrecan, lacking expression of osteogenic differentiation marker collagen type I (COL1A2). These results were associated with an increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α, which positively directs COL2A1 and aggrecan expression. Finally, we determined the most suitable chondrogenic differentiation pattern when hASC spheroids were seeded in the 3D porous scaffold under hypoxia and obtained a chondral extracellular matrix with a high sulphated glycosaminoglycan content, which is characteristic of articular cartilage. These findings highlight the potential use of such templates in cartilage tissue engineering.