Biomanufacturing of biomimetic three-dimensional nanofibrous multicellular constructs for tissue regeneration

Electrospinning/3D printing drug-loaded antibacterial polycaprolactone nanofiber/sodium alginate-gelatin hydrogel bilayer scaffold for skin wound repair

Skin injuries and defects, as a common clinical issue, still cannot be perfectly repaired at present, particularly large-scale and infected skin defects. Therefore, in this work, a drug-loaded bilayer skin scaffold was developed for repairing full-thickness skin defects. Briefly, amoxicillin (AMX) was loaded on polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofiber via electrospinning to form the antibacterial nanofiber membrane (PCL-AMX) as the outer layer of scaffold to mimic epidermis. To maintain wound wettability and promote wound healing, external human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) was loaded in sodium alginate-gelatin to form the hydrogel structure (SG-rhEGF) via 3D printing as inner layer of scaffold to mimic dermis. AMX and rhEGF were successfully loaded into the scaffold. The scaffold exhibited excellent physicochemical properties, with elongation at break and tensile modulus were 102.09 ± 6.74% and 206.83 ± 32.10 kPa, respectively; the outer layer was hydrophobic (WCA was 112.09 ± 4.67°), while the inner layer was hydrophilic (WCA was 48.87 ± 5.52°). Meanwhile, the scaffold showed excellent drug release and antibacterial characteristics. In vitro and in vivo studies indicated that the fabricated scaffold could enhance cell adhesion and proliferation, and promote skin wound healing, with favorable biocompatibility and great potential for skin regeneration and clinical application.

Highly Aligned Ternary Nanofiber Matrices Loaded with MXene Expedite Regeneration of Volumetric Muscle Loss

Current therapeutic approaches for volumetric muscle loss (VML) face challenges due to limited graft availability and insufficient bioactivities. To overcome these limitations, tissue-engineered scaffolds have emerged as a promising alternative. In this study, we developed aligned ternary nanofibrous matrices comprised of poly(lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) integrated with collagen and Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoparticles (NPs) (PCM matrices), and explored their myogenic potential for skeletal muscle tissue regeneration. The PCM matrices demonstrated favorable physicochemical properties, including structural uniformity, alignment, microporosity, and hydrophilicity. In vitro assays revealed that the PCM matrices promoted cellular behaviors and myogenic differentiation of C2C12 myoblasts. Moreover, in vivo experiments demonstrated enhanced muscle remodeling and recovery in mice treated with PCM matrices following VML injury. Mechanistic insights from next-generation sequencing revealed that MXene NPs facilitated protein and ion availability within PCM matrices, leading to elevated intracellular Ca2+ levels in myoblasts through the activation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1), ultimately promoting myogenic differentiation via the mTOR-AKT pathway. Additionally, upregulated iNOS and increased NO- contributed to myoblast proliferation and fiber fusion, thereby facilitating overall myoblast maturation. These findings underscore the potential of MXene NPs loaded within highly aligned matrices as therapeutic agents to promote skeletal muscle tissue recovery.

Electrospinning and Cell Fibers in Biomedical Applications

Human body tissues such as muscle, blood vessels, tendon/ligaments, and nerves have fiber-like fascicle morphologies, where ordered organization of cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) within the bundles in specific 3D manners orchestrates cells and ECM to provide tissue functions. Through engineering cell fibers (which are fibers containing living cells) as living building blocks with the help of emerging "bottom-up" biomanufacturing technologies, it is now possible to reconstitute/recreate the fiber-like fascicle morphologies and their spatiotemporally specific cell-cell/cell-ECM interactions in vitro, thereby enabling the modeling, therapy, or repair of these fibrous tissues. In this article, a concise review is provided of the "bottom-up" biomanufacturing technologies and materials usable for fabricating cell fibers, with an emphasis on electrospinning that can effectively and efficiently produce thin cell fibers and with properly designed processes, 3D cell-laden structures that mimic those of native fibrous tissues. The importance and applications of cell fibers as models, therapeutic platforms, or analogs/replacements for tissues for areas such as drug testing, cell therapy, and tissue engineering are highlighted. Challenges, in terms of biomimicry of high-order hierarchical structures and complex dynamic cellular microenvironments of native tissues, as well as opportunities for cell fibers in a myriad of biomedical applications, are discussed.

A Brief Review on the Electrohydrodynamic Techniques Used to Build Antioxidant Delivery Systems from Natural Sources

Extracts from plants have been one of the main sources of antioxidants, namely polyphenols. The associated drawbacks, such as instability against environmental factors, low bioavailability, and loss of activity, must be considered during microencapsulation for a better application. Electrohydrodynamic processes have been investigated as promising tools to fabricate crucial vectors to minimize these limitations. The developed microstructures present high potential to encapsulate active compounds and for controlling their release. The fabricated electrospun/electrosprayed structures present different benefits when compared with structures developed by other techniques; they present a high surface-area-to-volume ratio as well as porosity, great materials handling, and scalable production-among other advantages-which make them able to be widely applied in different fields, namely in the food industry. This review presents a summary of the electrohydrodynamic processes, main studies, and their application.