Dynamically Responsive Scaffolds from Microfluidic 3D Printing for Skin Flap Regeneration

Abstract

Biological scaffolds hold promising perspectives for random skin flap regeneration, while the practical application is greatly limited by their insufficient vascularization ability and the lack of responsiveness during the dynamical healing process. Herein, a novel MXene‐incorporated hollow fibrous (MX‐HF) scaffold with dynamically responsive channels is presented for promoting vascularization and skin flap regeneration by using a microfluidic‐assisted 3D printing strategy. Benefiting from the photothermal conversion capacity of the MXene nanosheets and temperature‐responsive ability of poly(NIPAM) hydrogels in the MX‐HF scaffolds, they display a near‐infrared (NIR)‐responsive shrinkage/swelling behavior, which facilitates the cell penetration into the scaffold channels from the surrounding environment. Moreover, by incorporating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into the hydrogel matrix for controllable delivery, the MX‐HF scaffolds can achieve promoted proliferation, migration, and proangiogenic effects of endothelial cells under NIR irradiation. It is further demonstrated in vivo that the NIR‐responsive VEGF@MX‐HF scaffolds can effectively improve skin flap survival by promoting angiogenesis, decreasing inflammation, and attenuating apoptosis in skin flaps. Thus, it is believed that such responsive MX‐HF scaffolds are promising candidates for clinical random skin flap regeneration as well as other diverse tissue engineering applications.

Pt(IV) prodrug initiated microparticles from microfluidics for tumor chemo-, photothermal and photodynamic combination therapy

“…1 . Microfluidic technology with high precision and controllability has been widely used to prepare multifunctional microparticles or microcapsules for various biomedical applications including drug/cell delivery, cell culture, and tissue engineering [ [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] ]. Especially, the resultant microparticles or microcapsules with tunable sizes, dispersity, structures, and components could be employed as delivery systems of multimodal tumor therapy [ [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ].…”

Advances in Microfluidics: Technical Innovations and Applications in Diagnostics and Therapeutics

“…Liu et al proposed a phase inversion-based microfluidic spinning (PIMS) method for producing helical microfibers. 186 187 The photothermal conversion capacity of the MXene nanosheets and temperature-responsive ability of poly(NIPAM) hydrogels give the channels a nearinfrared-responsive shrinkage/swelling behavior. With the addition of vascular endothelial growth factor in the hydrogel matrix, these scaffolds promote proliferation, migration, and proangiogenic effects of endothelial cells under NIR irradiation.…”

“…The helical microfibers can be used to fabricate bioriented stretchable artificial abdominal skin. Wang et al used a microfluidic-assisted 3D printing strategy to create a MXene-NIPAM hollow fibrous scaffold for promoting vascularization and skin flap regeneration . The photothermal conversion capacity of the MXene nanosheets and temperature-responsive ability of poly­(NIPAM) hydrogels give the channels a near-infrared-responsive shrinkage/swelling behavior.…”

Pinocembrin alleviates pyroptosis and apoptosis through ROS elimination in random skin flaps via activation of SIRT3

“…Soft tissue defects due to trauma, and congenital diseases are common problems in orthopedics and plastic reconstructive surgery (Ouyang et al, 2019; H. Zheng et al, 2019). Random flaps are widely applied to repair and reconstruct soft tissue injuries caused due to trauma, congenital diseases, and tumor excision (Khoong et al, 2021; X. Lin et al, 2022; Wang et al, 2022). Despite adequate progress in surgical techniques, random flap necrosis occurs in the distal area of the flap when the ratio exceeds 1.5–2, thus limiting its clinical use (Lou, Zhang, et al, 2022).…”