Publications (172) View all
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Article: Development of nanofibrous cellulose acetate/gelatin skin substitutes for variety wound treatment applications.
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ABSTRACT: The major component of fibrous extracellular matrix of dermis is composed of a complex combination of proteins and polysaccharides. Electrospun cellulose acetate/gelatin might be an effective simulator of the structure and composition of native skin and during this study, we electrospun cellulose acetate/gelatin membranes in various compositions and their performance as a scaffold for either skin tissue engineering or as a wound dressing was evaluated. Skin treatment products, whether tissue-engineered scaffolds or wound dressings, should be sufficiently hydrophilic to allow for gas and fluid exchange and absorb excess exudates while controlling the fluid loss. However, a wound dressing should be easily removable without causing tissue damage and a tissue-engineered scaffold should be able to adhere to the wound, and support cell proliferation during skin regeneration. We showed that these distinct adherency features are feasible just by changing the composition of cellulose acetate and gelatin in composite cellulose acetate/gelatin scaffolds. High proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts on electrospun cellulose acetate/gelatin 25:75 confirmed the capability of cellulose acetate/gelatin 25:75 nanofibers as a tissue-engineered scaffold, while the electrospun cellulose acetate/gelatin 75:25 can be a potential low-adherent wound dressing.Journal of Biomaterials Applications 05/2013; · 2.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Electrospun aligned PHBV/collagen nanofibers as substrates for nerve tissue engineering.
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ABSTRACT: Nerve regeneration following the injury of nerve tissue remains a major issue in the therapeutic medical field. Various bio-mimetic strategies are employed to direct the nerve growth in vitro, among which the chemical and topographical cues elicited by the scaffolds are crucial parameters that is primarily responsible for the axon growth and neurite extension involved in nerve regeneration. We carried out electrospinning for the first time, to fabricate both random and aligned nanofibers of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and composite PHBV/collagen nanofibers with fiber diameters in the range of 386-472 nm and 205-266 nm, respectively. To evaluate the potential of electrospun aligned nanofibers of PHBV and composite scaffolds as a substrate for nerve regeneration, we cultured nerve cells (PC12) and studied the biocompatibility effect along with neurite extension by immunostaining studies. Cell proliferation assays showed 40.01% and 5.48% higher proliferation of nerve cells on aligned PHBV/Coll50:50 nanofibers compared to cell proliferation on aligned PHBV and PHBV/Col75:25 nanofibers, respectively. Aligned nanofibers of PHBV/Coll provided contact guidance to direct the orientation of nerve cells along the direction of the fibers, thus endowing elongated cell morphology, with bi-polar neurite extensions required for nerve regeneration. Results showed that aligned PHBV/Col nanofibers are promising substrates than the random PHBV/Col nanofibers for application as bioengineered grafts for nerve tissue regeneration. Biotechnol. Bioeng. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Biotechnology and Bioengineering 04/2013; · 3.95 Impact Factor -
Article: Human cardiomyocyte interaction with electrospun fibrinogen/gelatin nanofibers for myocardial regeneration.
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ABSTRACT: Myocardial infarction is the major cause of death in many industrialized nations as it leads to end-stage heart failure. Tissue engineering (TE) approaches for treatment of the infarcted tissue have gained huge attention over the recent years and research in this direction mainly aims for the optimization of a biomaterial scaffold with suitable cell source for tissue regeneration. In this regard, we fabricated completely natural polymeric scaffolds using fibrinogen and gelatin in two different weight ratios and performed cross-linking [Fib/Gel(1:4)-CL; Fib/Gel(2:3)-CL] while cross-linked fibrinogen scaffolds were used as the control. The fiber diameters of the fabricated scaffolds were obtained in the range of 150-300 nm. Chemical characterization of the scaffolds confirmed the presence of both the proteins and showed the absence of any chemical reactions between them. The tensile strength and the stiffness values of Fib/Gel(1:4)-CL matrices were found to be 0.0125 and 0.46 MPa, respectively, which were much similar to the innate properties of the native myocardium. Cell culture studies using human cardiomyocytes revealed higher cell proliferation on Fib/Gel(1:4)-CL scaffolds compared to cell proliferation on Fib/Gel(2:3)-CL scaffolds, which was even higher than the cell proliferation on cross-linked fibrinogen scaffolds. Moreover, the cardiomyocytes seeded on composite substrates expressed the typical functional cardiac proteins such as alpha-actinin, troponin I, connexin-43, and myosin heavy chain, and could be potential for application in cardiac TE.Journal of Biomaterials Science Polymer Edition 04/2013; · 1.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Enhancing the stability of polymer solar cells by improving the conductivity of the nanostructured MoO3 hole-transport layer.
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ABSTRACT: This article demonstrates improvements in the operational stability of organic solar cells (OSCs) by taking advantage of the relationship between oxygen stoichiometry and conductivity in nanostructured metal oxide semiconductors (n-MOS). OSCs in the inverted device configuration of ITO/Ca/P3HT:PCBM/MoO3/Ag were employed in the present study. A high degree of oxygen defects were introduced in the hole-conducting MoO3 layer by annealing the devices under vacuum (≥10(-5) mbar) for nominal temperature (120 °C) and time (10 min). The above devices had much higher operational stability, when tested following the ISOS-D-1 (shelf) protocol, than control devices annealed conventionally, i.e., in nitrogen atmosphere. Employing current-voltage measurement as functions of temperature and photon flux, we show that the devices annealed under vacuum have a lesser density of traps than those annealed in nitrogen. The lesser trap density is shown to be beneficial in reducing the rate of electron recombination thereby increasing the operational stability of the corresponding device. A number of experiments were undertaken to show that the difference in the operation stability of the device results from the difference in conductivity of the nanostructured MoO3 hole transporting layer. The charge extraction by linear increasing voltage spectroscopy shows that charges are relaxed at the trap states in the device annealed in nitrogen whereas they are efficiently transported in the other device. We identify that building up of an interfacial potential barrier as a result of the charge relaxation at the trap states and the corresponding chemical changes in the devices annealed conventionally is the source of degradation of the device performance over time. To our knowledge, this is the first report that successfully overcomes hole-conductivity induced degradation in organic solar cells.Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 04/2013; · 3.57 Impact Factor -
Article: Cardiogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on elastomeric poly (glycerol sebacate)/collagen core/shell fibers.
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ABSTRACT: To facilitate engineering of suitable biomaterials to meet the challenges associated with myocardial infarction. Poly (glycerol sebacate)/collagen (PGS/collagen) core/shell fibers were fabricated by core/shell electrospinning technique, with core as PGS and shell as collagen polymer; and the scaffolds were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), contact angle and tensile testing for cardiac tissue engineering. Collagen nanofibers were also fabricated by electrospinning for comparison with core/shell fibers. Studies on cell-scaffold interaction were carried out using cardiac cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) co-culture system with cardiac cells and MSCs separately serving as positive and negative controls respectively. The co-culture system was characterized for cell proliferation and differentiation of MSCs into cardiomyogenic lineage in the co-culture environment using dual immunocytochemistry. The co-culture cells were stained with cardiac specific marker proteins like actinin and troponin and MSC specific marker protein CD 105 for proving the cardiogenic differentiation of MSCs. Further the morphology of cells was analyzed using SEM. PGS/collagen core/shell fibers, core is PGS polymer having an elastic modulus related to that of cardiac fibers and shell as collagen, providing natural environment for cellular activities like cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. SEM micrographs of electrospun fibrous scaffolds revealed porous, beadless, uniform fibers with a fiber diameter in the range of 380 ± 77 nm and 1192 ± 277 nm for collagen fibers and PGS/collagen core/shell fibers respectively. The obtained PGS/collagen core/shell fibrous scaffolds were hydrophilic having a water contact angle of 17.9 ± 4.6° compared to collagen nanofibers which had a contact angle value of 30 ± 3.2°. The PGS/collagen core/shell fibers had mechanical properties comparable to that of native heart muscle with a young's modulus of 4.24 ± 0.7 MPa, while that of collagen nanofibers was comparatively higher around 30.11 ± 1.68 MPa. FTIR spectrum was performed to confirm the functional groups present in the electrospun scaffolds. Amide I and amide II of collagen were detected at 1638.95 cm(-1) and 1551.64 cm(-1) in the electrospun collagen fibers and at 1646.22 cm(-1) and 1540.73 cm(-1) for PGS/collagen core/shell fibers respectively. Cell culture studies performed using MSCs and cardiac cells co-culture environment, indicated that the cell proliferation significantly increased on PGS/collagen core/shell scaffolds compared to collagen fibers and the cardiac marker proteins actinin and troponin were expressed more on PGS/collagen core/shell scaffolds compared to collagen fibers alone. Dual immunofluorescent staining was performed to further confirm the cardiogenic differentiation of MSCs by employing MSC specific marker protein, CD 105 and cardiac specific marker protein, actinin. SEM observations of cardiac cells showed normal morphology on PGS/collagen fibers and providing adequate tensile strength for the regeneration of myocardial infarction. Combination of PGS/collagen fibers and cardiac cells/MSCs co-culture system providing natural microenvironments to improve cell survival and differentiation, could bring cardiac tissue engineering to clinical application.World journal of cardiology. 03/2013; 5(3):28-41.
