Academic literature on the topic 'Neural scaffold'

Background: Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds are considered as promising candidates in neural tissue regeneration due to their ability to support neural cell attachment, spreading and proliferation. Methods: In this paper, various type of nanofibers scaffold based on polycaprolactone) (PCL) were fabricated using electrospinning. The main drawback of PCL scaffolds is their low bioactivity of scaffold surface. To overcome this surface and composition modification was used to enhanced hydrophilicity and bioactivity of scaffold. Results: The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicate that fiber diameter entirely depends on the solvent system and added component of gelatin and chitosan which by adding gelatin and chitosan fiber diameter decreased. In vitro studies using PC12 cells revealed that the plasma surface modified and blended scaffold with chitosan and gelatin nanofibrous scaffold supports cell attachment, spreading and indicate a significant increase in proliferation of PC12 in the presence of chitosan. The results demonstrated that gelatin and chitosan caused a significant enhancement in the bioactivity of the scaffold, which confirmed by MTT assay and improved the cell spreading and proliferation of neural cell on the scaffolds. Conclusion: Based on the experimental results, the PCL/chitosan/PPy conductive substrate could be used as a potential scaffold for clinical research in the field of neural regeneration and healing.

The desired scaffolds for neural tissue engineering need to have electrical conductivity. In this study, we doubly coated graphene oxide and polypyrrole on silk fibroin scaffolds (SF@GO-PPY) by a facile method to improve its electrical conductivity. The graphene oxide–polypyrrole double coating was distributed homogeneously on silk fibroin scaffolds. Compared with silk fibroin scaffolds, the SF@GO-PPY scaffold showed higher electrical conductivity, electrochemical property, mechanical property, and thermal stability. The π–π stacking interaction between polypyrrole and graphene oxide might contribute to the superior conductive and electrochemical property of the SF@GO-PPY scaffold. Moreover, in vitro cell experiment carried out on SH-SY5Y cells showed no cytotoxicity of all the scaffolds. Thus, the results indicated that the SF@GO-PPY scaffold might be a suitable candidate for the application in neural regeneration field.

The nervous system has little capacity for self-repair after injury because neurons cannot proliferate owing to lack of suitable microenvironment. Therefore, neural tissue engineering that combines neural stem, scaffolds, and growth factors may improve the chance of restoration of damaged neural tissues. A favorable niche for neural regeneration would be both fibrous and electrically conductive scaffolds. Human Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells were seeded on wet-electrospun 3D scaffolds composed of poly lactic acid coated with natural polymers including alginate and gelatin, followed by a multi-wall carbon nanotube coating. The results show that a wet-electrospun poly lactic acid scaffold at a concentration of 15% w/v had higher porosity (above 80%) than other concentrations. Moreover, the coated scaffold supported the growth of human Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells in 3D culture, and were incubated for 21 days with 1 mM valproic acid as the inducer resulted in improvement in human Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into neuron-like cells immunoreactivity to nestin, Map2, and neuron specific enolase (NSE), which were also consistent with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitive Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) results. The conclusion is that the 3D composite nanofiber poly lactic acid scaffold improved the transdifferentiation of human Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neuron-like cells.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in devastating consequences for the motor and sensory function of patients due to neuronal loss and disrupted neural circuits, confronting poor prognosis and lack of effective therapies. A new therapeutic strategy is urgently required. Here, human amniotic epithelial cells (hAEC), featured with immunocompatibility, non-tumorgenicity and no ethical issues, were induced into neural-like cells by a compound cocktail, as evidenced with morphological change and the expression of neural cell markers. Interestingly, the hAEC-neural-like cells maintain the characteristic of low immunogenicity as hAEC. Aiming at SCI treatment in vivo, we constructed a 3D-printed GelMA hydrogel biomimetic spinal cord scaffold with micro-channels, in which hAEC-neural-like cells were well-induced and grown. In a rat full transection SCI model, hAEC-neural-like cell scaffolds that were implanted in the lesion demonstrated significant therapeutic effects; the neural circuit and hindlimb locomotion were partly recovered compared to little affection in the SCI rats receiving an empty scaffold or a sham implantation operation. Thus, the establishment of hAEC-neural-like cell biomimetic scaffolds may provide a safe and effective treatment strategy for SCI.

A composite neural scaffold which combines the topographical features of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds and bioactive as well as nanostructured features of designer self-assembling peptides (“Nano on Nano” approach).

Nerve tissue engineering is an important strategy for the treatment of brain injuries. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has been proven to be able to promote repair and functional recovery of brain damage, and poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) has also been found to have the capability of bearing cells. In the present study, to observe the ability of PLGA scaffold in supporting the adherent growth of MSCs and neurons in vivo and vitro and to assess the effects of PLGA scaffold on proliferation and neural differentiation of MSCs, this study undertakes the following steps. First, MSCs and neurons were cultured and labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) or otherwise identified and the PLGA scaffold was synthesized. Next, MSCs and neurons were inoculated on PLGA scaffolds and their adhesion rates were investigated and the proliferation of MSCs was evaluated by using MTT assay. After MSCs were induced by a neural induction medium, the morphological change and neural differentiation of MSCs were detected using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Finally, cell migration and adhesion in the PLGA scaffold in vivo were examined by immunohistochemistry, nuclear staining, and SEM. The experimental results demonstrated that PLGA did not interfere with the proliferation and neural differentiation of MSCs and that MSCs and neuron could grow and migrate in PLGA scaffold. These data suggest that the MSC-PLGA complex may be used as tissue engineering material for brain injuries.

Introduction: Transplantation of stem cells with a nanofibrous scaffold is a promising approach for spinal cord injury therapy. The aim of this work was to differentiate neural-like cells from placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PDMSCs) using suitable induction reagents in three (3D) and two dimensional (2D) culture systems. Methods: After isolation and characterization of PDMSCs, the cells were cultivated on poly-L-lactide acid (PLLA)/poly caprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous scaffold and treated with a neuronal medium for 7 days. Electron microscopy, qPCR, and immunostaining were used to examine the differentiation of PDMSCs (on scaffold and tissue culture polystyrene [TCPS]) and the expression rate of neuronal markers (beta-tubulin, nestin, GFAP, and MAP-2). Results: qPCR analysis showed that beta-tubulin (1.672 fold; P ≤ 0.0001), nestin (11.145 fold; P ≤ 0.0001), and GFAP (80.171; P ≤ 0.0001) gene expressions were higher on scaffolds compared with TCPS. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that nestin and beta-tubulin proteins were recognized in the PDMSCs differentiated on TCPS and scaffold after 7 days in the neuroinductive differentiation medium. Conclusion: Taken together, these results delegated that PDMSCs differentiated on PLLA/PCL scaffolds are more likely to differentiate towards diversity lineages of neural cells. It proposed that PDMSCs have cell subpopulations that have the capability to be differentiated into neurogenic cells.

A designer self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold has been systematically studied with 10 commonly used scaffolds in a several week study using neural stem cells (NSC), a potential therapeutic source for cellular transplantations in nervous system injuries. These cells not only provide a good in vitro model for the development and regeneration of the nervous system, but may also be helpful in testing for cytotoxicity, cellular adhesion, and differentiation properties of biological and synthetic scaffolds used in medical practices. We tested the self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffold with the most commonly used scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine including PLLA, PLGA, PCLA, collagen I, collagen IV, and Matrigel. Additionally, each scaffold was coated with laminin in order to evaluate the utility of this surface treatment. Each scaffold was evaluated by measuring cell viability, differentiation and maturation of the differentiated stem cell progeny (i.e. progenitor cells, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neurons) over 4 weeks. The optimal scaffold should show high numbers of living and differentiated cells. In addition, it was demonstrated that the laminin surface treatment is capable of improving the overall scaffold performance. The designer self-assembling peptide RADA16 nanofiber scaffold represents a new class of biologically inspired material. The well-defined molecular structure with considerable potential for further functionalization and slow drug delivery makes the designer peptide scaffolds a very attractive class of biological material for a number of applications. The peptide nanofiber scaffold is comparable with the clinically approved synthetic scaffolds. The peptide scaffolds are not only pure, but also have the potential to be further designed at the molecular level, thus they promise to be useful for cell adhesion and differentiation studies as well as for future biomedical and clinical studies.

LDM process is used for preparing three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering rapid prototyping technologies. Because of its forming process is complex, which influenced by a variety of factors, so the processing environment is not stable, the forming of scaffold pore size can not be guaranteed, therefore the forming precision is poor. However, the scaffold pore size accuracy is mainly decided by the wire filament width. Neural network theory and development provides a powerful tool for the study of nonlinear systems. This article analyzed the influence factors for forming bone scaffold filament width of LDM process, based on improved BP neural network, using MATLAB software programming, then predicted the filament width. The results show that model prediction error was less than 8%, it has high forecasting precision, and it can be used to guide the LDM process parameter selection and forming precision of prediction.

Strong wind during extreme weather conditions (e.g., strong winds during typhoons) is one of the natural factors that cause the collapse of frame-type scaffolds used in façade work. This study developed an alert system for use in determining whether the scaffold structure could withstand the stress of the wind force. Conceptually, the scaffolds collapsed by the warning system developed in the study contains three modules. The first module involves the establishment of wind velocity prediction models. This study employed various deep learning and machine learning techniques, namely deep neural networks, long short-term memory neural networks, support vector regressions, random forest, and k-nearest neighbors. Then, the second module contains the analysis of wind force on the scaffolds. The third module involves the development of the scaffold collapse evaluation approach. The study area was Taichung City, Taiwan. This study collected meteorological data from the ground stations from 2012 to 2019. Results revealed that the system successfully predicted the possible collapse time for scaffolds within 1 to 6 h, and effectively issued a warning time. Overall, the warning system can provide practical warning information related to the destruction of scaffolds to construction teams in need of the information to reduce the damage risk.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-91). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) is one of the most promising current approaches to repair spinal cord injury. The encouraging results from transplantation of OECs in animal models have led to several clinical applications of these cells in spinal cord injury. The first controlled clinical trial was carried out by Mackay-Sim, Féron and colleagues (Mackay-Sim et al., 2008). A number of neurosurgical teams have also implanted foetal OECs (Huang et al., 2003) or minced whole mucosal tissue (Lima et al., 2006) into spinal injuries. So far the reported functional benefits are only moderate. The Mackay-Sim team reported no improvements while others reported minor improvements (including an ongoing trial by Pawel Tabakow’s team in Poland; personal communication). The basic conclusion is that OEC transplantation is feasible and safe. However, in the studies where suspensions of OECs were used there were not enough cells to fill the lesion, and no materials were used to bridge the gaps. In order to progress to more effective transplants the two areas addressed in this thesis will be important – what is the best source of adequate numbers of cells, and what biomaterials can be used to bridge the gaps. In addressing the twin necessities of (a) identifying the tissue source needed to provide sufficient cells for transplantation and (b) the problem of bridging the large gaps present in spinal cord injuries, the results of this study were directed towards two issues. (a) The questions of cell source and proliferation were addressed by establishing the quantitative baseline for the yield of primary cultures from the olfactory bulb, and the whole and split olfactory mucosa and characterising the heterogeneity of these cultures in search for any difference between bulbar and mucosal OECs. The study of flow cytometric simultaneous antigenic bivariate cell cycle of purified OECs and ONFs from these four sources revealed the evolution of population heterogeneity and its strikingly differences between these four sources of primary tissue with additional populations that were not previously described. An unexpected highly proliferative p75+ population in the stripped mucosal epithelium was also characterised. Correlation study of the cell proliferation and population evolution revealed cell autonomous among the difference sources. (b) The feasibility of a synthesis biomaterial for the deployment of OECs and olfactory nerve fibroblasts (ONFs) as a transplant was addressed by designing and developing an electrospun PLGA nanocomposite nanofibre construct with a myriad of microfabrication techniques, focusing on how OECs and ONFs can be deployed during tissue culture and transplantation. The techniques included nanocomposite electrospinning, replica moulding from photolithographed silicon mould, design of tissue-culture membrane insert, and laser ablation. The biocompatibility study showed that when grown on a fibre mesh structured at the nano-scale, OECs responded by adopting the elongated form comparable to that which occurs when the convey regenerating fibres cross small lesions in in vivo transplants. Preliminary functional studies of using the nanocomposite nanofibers as a neural scaffold in the organotypic entorhino-hippocampus slice co-culture data provide an indication that the nanofibres are compatible with tissue and allow migration of astrocytes and growth of nerve fibres. These observations will be important in future attempts to derive larger cell populations for transplantation. The anticipated use of the OEC nanofibre prosthesis would be in the application of autologous human OECs for bridging the gap in spinal cord lesions.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-35).
The performance of a biological scaffold formed by the self-assembling peptide RADA16 is comparable to the most commonly used synthetic materials employed in the culture of neural stem cells. Furthermore, improvements in the performance of RADA16 have recently been made by appending the self-assembling peptide sequence with various functional motifs from naturally occurring proteins. The focus of this work is to further analyze the performance of these functionalized self-assembling peptide scaffolds when used for the culture of neural stem cells, and to characterize these newly developed materials for comparison with RADA16. The effect of the functional motifs on the structure of the peptide scaffold was evaluated with circular dichroism and scanning electron microscopy, and the mechanical properties of the peptide scaffolds were examined through theological analysis. The functionalized peptides were found to have lower percentages of beta-sheet structure as well as reduced storage moduli in comparison with RADA16. SEM images confirmed the ability of the functionalized peptides to form three-dimensional nanofiber scaffolds capable of encompassing, neural stem cells. Three-dimensional cell culture techniques were used to evaluate the ability of the functionalized peptide scaffolds to promote neural stem cell proliferation, and a scaffold formed by the combination of different functionalized peptides was found to increase the proliferation of neural stem cells in comparison to non-functionalized RADA 16.
by Angus M. Hucknall.
S.M.

This thesis describes a highly interdisciplinary approach to discern the differing impact of scaffold dimensionality and physical space restrictions on the behavior of single cells. Rolled-up nanotechnology is employed to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) SiO/SiO2 microtube geometries of varied diameter, that after a biofunctionalization step are shown to support the growth of U2OS and six different types of stem cells. Cell confinement quantifiable through the given microtube diameter is tolerated by U2OS cells through a remarkable elongation of the cell body and nucleus down to a certain threshold, while the integrity of the DNA is maintained. This confinement for NSPCs also leads to the approaching of the in vivo morphology, underlining the space-restrictive property of live tissue. The dimensionality of the cell culture scaffold however is identified as the major determiner of NSPC migration characteristics and leads to a morphologically distinct mesenchymal to amoeboid migration mode transition. The 3D microtube migration is characterized by exclusively filopodia protrusion formation, a higher dependence on actin polymerization and adopts aspects of in vivo-reported saltatory movement. The reported findings contribute to the determination of biomaterial scaffold design principles and advance our current understanding of how physical properties of the extracellular environment affect cell migration characteristics.

ABSTRACT Peripheral nerve injury is a common clinical problem significantly affecting the patients’ quality of life. In case of severe transections, the bridging of the gap between the proximal and distal nerve stumps is required and autologous nerve grafts using sensory nerves (i.e. the sural nerve or antebrachial cutaneous nerve) are the current criterion standard. Nevertheless, donor-site morbidities, permanent loss of function, size mismatch between the donor nerve and the injured nerve and poor functional recovery rates have prompted the interest towards the identification of an alternative to this technique. To date, surgeons and researchers are turning their attention towards different grafts made of biological or artificial polymers. In fact, the development of hollow nerve guide conduits a) creating an adequate microenvironment for nutritional support/axons regeneration; b) acting as a barrier against the surrounding tissue infiltration; c) matching the effectiveness of the autologous nerve graft, would be beneficial to the field of peripheral nerve surgery. Over the years, many biomaterials of natural or synthetic origin and with different characteristics in terms of biodegradability have been studied. However, it has not been identified yet a prosthesis able to guarantee a better regenerated tissue than the others.
The aim of the present study was to manufacture and investigate in vitro and in vivo the characteristics and the regenerative potential of three different nerve conduits made up of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA); 1% Oxidized PVA (1% Ox PVA) and Silk-Fibroin (SF). While the use of PVA and SF for the realization of neuro-guides has already been studied in the past, oxidized PVA (recently patented by our research group) is a new material for this purpose. In parallel, this study also allowed to assess the quality of axonal regeneration guaranteed by neuro-guides with different origin (synthetic vs. natural) and biodegradation properties (vs non-biodegradable biodegradable). After preparing the three different polymer solutions, disk-shaped and tubular supports were manufactured. These were employed for in vitro and in vivo studies respectively. Considering in vitro analysis, a morphological characterization of supports was performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Thereafter, the biocompatibility and the biological activity of the three different scaffolds was assessed using a Schwann-cell line (SH-SY5Y). Cells were seeded on supports and their adhesion and proliferation was evaluated by SEM and MTT assay at two different end-points (3 and 7 days from seeding). Regarding in vivo tests, nerve conduits were implanted in animal models (Sprague-Dawley rats) of peripheral nerve injury with loss of substance (nerve gap: 5 mm). At 12-weeks from surgery, the functional recovery of the sciatic nerve was assessed; thereafter, the animals were euthanized and the dissection occurred. Prior to explant, the gross appearance of grafts was carefully observed in situ. Specimens were than processed for histological (hematoxylin and eosin staining) and immunohistochemical analysis (anti-CD3; anti-S100) as well as for further Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. The objective was to assess the quality of the regenerated nerve-tissue highlighting any differences in efficacy between the three types of nerve-conduits; to this end, the histomorphological analysis has been fundamental allowing to quantify the axons (myelinated vs unmyelinated nerve fibers) at different levels of the explant (proximal vs central vs distal portion); the controlateral sciatic nerve was used as control. Considering the in vitro results, SEM micrographs showed that PVA and SF supports have a smooth and regular surface; conversely, a certain roughness was noticed observing the ultrastructure of 1% Ox PVA disk-shaped scaffolds. Despite the superficial appearance of supports, it does not seem to affect the interaction with the cells. In fact, PVA-based scaffolds do not support cell adhesion and proliferation; SEM analysis and the MTT assay do not identified the presence of SH-SY5Y cells after 3 and 7 days from seeding. This result can be attributed to the high hydrophilic nature of the hydrogels. Conversely, SF scaffolds are adequate to promote SH-SY5Y cells growth. Regarding the in vivo study, all nerve conduits showed good characteristics in terms of handiness, being easy-suturing and demonstrating also an adequate tear-resistance feature; PVA-based scaffolds appear more flexible than SF guides. After 12 weeks from surgery, all animals showed a sciatic nerve functional recovery; in particular, all of them supported their body weight on the hind leg even though animals implanted with PVA and SF nerve conduits sometimes showed spasms during the walk while not limping. On the contrary, animals implanted with 1% Ox PVA nerve conduits exhibited a normal movement. At the time of dissection, the three scaffolds were still clearly identifiable. Any dislocation of the grafts or neuroma formation at the stumps was observed; moreover, the transparency of the three scaffolds allowed to identify the presence of a regenerated tissue inside. Thereafter, histological and immunohistochemical analysis were performed to evaluate the quality of axonal regeneration. Preliminarily, the haematoxylin and eosin staining of the specimens (cross-section of the central portion) highlighted the morphological integrity of the structure. In fact, three layers are recognizable proceeding from the periphery to the inside of the sections: an external fibrous capsule; a layer corresponding to the nerve conduit; a homogeneous and dense regenerated tissue in the middle. The biocompatibility of the grafts was verified by immunohistochemical analysis; anti-CD3 immunohistochemistry demonstrated the absence of severe inflammatory reactions. At the same time, several S100+ cells were identified suggesting the extensive presence of Schwann-cells. In parallel, the typical peripheral nerve morphology was highlighted also by Toluidine Blue staining by means of was considered also the appearance of the proximal and distal stumps. Although all samples support the recovery of the lesion, some differences can be found between the three experimental groups; these results were confirmed also by TEM micrographs. The histomorphometric analysis of samples evaluated the total axons number per nerve and axon density (axons/μm2); for each graft were considered the proximal, the central and the distal section. The collected data showed that 1% Ox PVA conduits assure a better outcome in nerve regeneration than the non-biodegradable PVA grafts which among the three groups proved to be the ones with the lower outcomes.
The results of this study showed that all nerve conduits considered (PVA; 1% Ox PVA and SF) promote peripheral nerve regeneration in case of neurotmesis with loss of substance. Considering the quality of regenerates, better outcomes were observed analyzing the 1% Ox PVA explants compared to PVA and Silk-Fibroin ones.
RIASSUNTO Le lesioni nervose periferiche costituiscono un problema clinico piuttosto comune, il quale inficia in modo significativo la qualità della vita dei pazienti. In caso di lesioni gravi con perdita di sostanza, al fine di colmare il gap tra il moncone prossimale ed il distale, il gold- standard prevede l’impianto di innesti nervosi autologhi utilizzando nervi sensoriali (ad es., nervo surale o nervo cutaneo antibrachiale). Tuttavia, criticità quali la morbidità del sito donatore, la perdita in funzionalità, la mancata corrispondenza dimensionale tra il nervo donatore ed il nervo lesionato oltre ad uno scarso recupero funzionale hanno spinto l'interesse verso l'identificazione di un approccio alternativo. Allo stato dell’arte, chirurghi e ricercatori stanno volgendo la loro attenzione verso innesti polimerici diversi (grafts) di natura sia biologica che artificiale. Infatti, lo sviluppo di neuroguide capaci di: a) creare un microambiente ideale per la rigenerazione assonale; b) fornire una protezione dall'infiltrazione di tessuto circostante; c) possedere un’efficacia analoga a quella garantita dall’innesto nervoso autologo; costituirebbe un vantaggio significativo nell’ambito della chirurgia del nervo periferico. Nel corso degli anni, sono stati studiati molti biomateriali di origine sia naturale che sintetica aventi caratteristiche differenti in termini di biodegradabilità. Tuttavia, considerando la qualità del tessuto rigenerato, non è ancora stata individuata una protesi più performante rispetto alle altre. L’obiettivo di questo studio è stato quello di allestire e studiare, sia in vitro che in vivo, le caratteristiche ed il potenziale rigenerativo di tre diverse neuroguide rispettivamente costituite da: alcool polivinilico (PVA); PVA ossidato 1% (PVA Ox 1%) e Fibroina della Seta (FS). Mentre l’impiego di PVA e FS per la realizzazione di grafts è già stato investigato in passato, il PVA Ox 1% (recentemente brevettato dal nostro gruppo di ricerca) costituisce un nuovo materiale per questo scopo. In parallelo, questo studio ha anche consentito di confrontare la qualità della rigenerazione assonale sostenuta da neuroguide diverse sia per origine (sintetica vs naturale) che per proprietà biodegradative (biodegradabili vs nonbiodegradabili).
Dopo aver allestito le tre diverse soluzioni polimeriche, sono stati quindi preparati scaffolds sia discoidali che in forma di graft tubulare, utilizzati rispettivamente per i successivi studi in vitro e in vivo. Nell’ambito degli studi in vitro, è stata effettuata una caratterizzazione morfologica dei supporti mediante microscopia elettronica a scansione (SEM). Successivamente, la biocompatibilità e l'attività biologica dei tre differenti scaffolds è stata valutata utilizzando una linea di cellule di Schwann (SH-SY5Y). Le cellule sono state seminate sui supporti e la loro adesione e la proliferazione è stata valutata mediante saggio MTT oltre che SEM a due differenti end-point (3 e 7 giorni dalla semina). Per quanto riguarda lo studio in vivo, i graft tubulari sono stati impiantati in modelli animali (ratti Sprague- Dawley) di lesione nervosa periferica con perdita di sostanza (gap tra moncone prossimale e distale: 5 mm). A 12 settimane dalla chirurgia, è stato valutato il recupero funzionale del nervo sciatico; successivamente, gli animali sono stati sacrificati. Dopo dissezione, prima di procedere all’espianto, l'aspetto macroscopico degli innesti è stato attentamente osservato in situ. I campioni sono stati quindi prelevati e trattati per le successive analisi istologiche (ematossilina ed eosina) ed immunoistochimiche (anti-CD3; anti-S100) nonché per ulteriori analisi di microscopia elettronica a scansione (TEM). L'obiettivo è stato quello di valutare la qualità del tessuto rigenerato evidenziando eventuali differenze di efficacia tra i tre tipi di grafts; a tal fine, anche l'analisi istomorfologica si è rivelata fondamentale, permettendo essa di quantificare gli assoni (mielinici vs amielinici) in diverse porzioni del campione (porzione prossimale vs centrale vs distale). Il nervo sciatico controlaterale è stato usato come controllo. Considerando i risultati degli studi in vitro, le immagini al SEM hanno mostrato come i supporti in PVA e FS mostrino una superficie liscia e regolare; al contrario, una certa ruvidità è stata notata osservando l’ultrastruttura degli scaffold discoidali in PVA Ox 1%. Nonostante il diverso aspetto ultrastrutturale dei supporti, esso non sembra influenzare l'interazione con le cellule. Il PVA (sia nativo che ossidato) non sostiene l'adesione e la proliferazione cellulare; infatti, sia le analisi al SEM che il saggio MTT non hanno identificato la presenza di cellule SH-SY5Y dopo 3 e 7 giorni dalla semina. Questo risultato può essere attribuito alla elevata idrofilia degli idrogeli Al contrario, gli scaffold in FS sono adeguati per promuovere la crescita delle SH-SY5Y. Per quanto riguarda lo studio in vivo, tutti i graft mostrato buone caratteristiche in termini di manipolabilità, essendo facilmente suturabili e dimostrando anche una adeguata resistenza allo strappo; gli scaffold in PVA appaiono più flessibile rispetto alle guide in FS. Dopo 12 settimane dalla chirurgia, tutti gli animali hanno mostrato un certo recupero funzionale dell’arto operato; in particolare, tutti distribuivano il proprio peso corporeo anche sulla zampa posteriore. Pur non zoppicando, gli animali impiantati con PVA e SF mostravano talvolta degli spasmi durante la deambulazione, al contrario, gli animali impiantati con graft in PVA Ox 1% esibivano un movimento normale. Al momento della dissezione, i tre graft erano ancora chiaramente identificabili. Non è stata riscontrata alcuna dislocazione degli innesti o formazione di neuroma in corrispondenza dei monconi; inoltre, la trasparenza delle tre neuroguide ha permesso di identificare la presenza di un tessuto rigenerato al loro interno. Successivamente, sono state effettuate analisi istologiche ed immunoistochimiche per valutare la qualità della rigenerazione assonale. Preliminarmente, mediante colorazione con ematossilina ed eosina (sezione trasversale della porzione centrale) è stato possibile mettere in evidenza l'integrità morfologica della struttura. Procedendo dalla periferia della sezione verso l'interno sono riconoscibili: una capsula fibrosa esterna; il graft; ed il tessuto neo-rigenerato, omogeneo e denso, nel mezzo. La biocompatibilità degli innesti è stata verificata mediante analisi immunoistochimica; la scarsa presenza di cellule CD3+ ha dimostrato l'assenza di reazioni infiammatorie gravi riconducibili all’impianto. Contestualmente, l’elevata presenza di elementi S100+ riscontrata in tutti i campioni ha comprovato una evidente rigenerazione assonale. In parallelo, la morfologia tipica del tessuto nervoso periferico è stata altresì evidenziata mediante colorazione con Blu di Toluidina mediante la quale è stato considerato anche l'aspetto dei monconi prossimale e distale.
Sebbene tutti i campioni supportino il recupero della lesione, alcune differenze possono essere riscontrate tra i tre gruppi sperimentali; questi risultati sono stati confermati anche dalle micrografie al TEM. L'analisi morfometrica dei campioni ha valutato il numero totale di assoni/nervo e la loro densità (assoni / μm2); per ogni innesto sono state considerate le sezioni prossimale, centrale e distale. I dati raccolti hanno dimostrato che il PVA Ox 1% assicura un risultato migliore nella rigenerazione assonale rispetto agli innesti non biodegradabili in PVA, il quale tra i tre gruppi è risultato essere quello con l’outcome inferiore. I risultati di questo studio hanno mostrato che, in caso di neurotmesi con perdita di sostanza, tutti i graft allestiti (PVA; PVA Ox 1% e FS) promuovono la rigenerazione del nervo. Considerando la qualità del tessuto rigenerato, sono stati osservati dei risultati migliori con graft in PVA Ox 1% rispetto a quelli ottenuti da neuroguide in PVA e FS.

Neural tissue engineering has emerged as a promising alternative to address various nerve injuries. Particularly, advancement in both 3D biomimetic scaffold fabrication strategies and nanotechnology has inspired this field into a new era. In this study, we fabricated a novel 3D biomimetic scaffold, which has tunable porous structure and embedded core-shell nanoparticles with neurogenic factor delivery system, using stereolithography (SL) based 3D printing and core-shell electrospraying techniques. Our results indicated that scaffolds with higher porosity significantly improve PC-12 neural cell adhesion compared to ones with smaller porosity. Furthermore, scaffolds embedded bovine serum albumin (BSA) containing nanoparticles showed an enhancement in cell proliferation relative to bared control scaffolds. In addition, confocal microscopy images illustrated that the scaffold with nerve growth factor (NGF) nanoparticles increased the length of neuritis and directed neurite extension of PC-12 cells along the fiber. The results in this study demonstrate the potential of this 3D scaffold in improving neural cell function and nerve growth.

Abstract The overarching goal of this research work is to fabricate biocompatible, porous bone scaffolds that are not only mechanically robust but also dimensionally accurate for the treatment of osseous fractures, defects, and musculoskeletal diseases. In pursuit of this goal, the objective of the work is to develop an image-based intelligent platform, based on convolutional neural network, for prediction of the functional properties (such as porosity, stiffness, and compressive strength) of composite bone scaffolds (composed of polyamide, polyolefin, and cellulose fibers) fabricated using fused deposition modeling (FDM) process. FDM is a material extrusion additive manufacturing process, which has been extensively utilized for the fabrication of a wide range of biological tissues and constructs for tissue engineering applications. As a high-resolution method, FDM allows for deposition of composite materials with complex formulations as well as complex porous microstructures. Despite the advantages and engendered applications, the FDM process is inherently complex; the complexity of the process is, to a great extent, the result of complex physical phenomena (such as non-Newtonian material deposition, layer fusion, and phase change) in addition to unavoidable material-process interactions (e.g., molten polymer flow deposition and subsequent layer fusion vs. translation speed). Besides, there is a wide spectrum of scaffold design, composite material, and fabrication process parameters (such as molten polymer viscosity, scaffold morphology, nozzle diameter, deposition temperature, and forced convection rate influencing solidification rate) contributing to the complexity of the FDM process. As a result, investigation of the impact of consequential design, material, and process parameters as well as their interactions would be required for optimal fabrication of mechanically strong, dimensionally accurate, and porous composite bone scaffolds. In this study, an image-based convolutional neural network (CNN) platform is presented with the aim to intelligently learn the complex dynamics of composite material deposition and ultimately predict scaffold porosity. In this study, the CNN model is trained on the basis of monochromatic images acquired from FDM-fabricated bone scaffolds via a high-resolution charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The bone scaffolds were fabricated based on a medical-grade composite material, deposited using a converging microcapillary nozzle having a diameter of 800 μm with a deposition temperature, translation speed, and layer height of 225 °C, 15 mm/s, and 400 μm, respectively. The CNN model is utilized for in-process prediction of the morphological properties of the fabricated bone scaffolds. Overall, the outcomes of this study pave the way for smart, patient-specific fabrication of robust and porous bone scaffolds with tunable medical and functional properties.

Abstract The study of wave propagation in biomimetic porous scaffold requires the inclusion of some complex physics such as the interaction of the ultrasonic wave with pore fluid, solid phase, and porous material. Also, due to viscous interactions between the pore fluid and skeletal frame, the dynamic tortuosity as a fractional function of frequency in the clinically relevant ultrasound frequency range is considered. The bone scaffold here is simulated using a porous slab whose two dimensions are infinite. The Biot-JKD theory used for wave propagation in porous media is conditioned with many physical parameters. Solving such governing equations for complex multi-physics problems is computationally expensive. Therefore, developing efficient tools and numerical methods to address multi-physics problems is appealing. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) can efficiently solve convoluted-parametric problems. The purpose of this research is to propose a physics-aware ANN to simulate wave propagation in bone scaffold filled with a viscous fluid. A set of data including porosity, viscosity, tortuosity, viscous characteristics length, Poisson’s ratio, and elastic modulus which are sensitive to the transmission and reflection signals are applied to the ANN as inputs and the reflection and transmission signals are obtained as outputs. The reflected and transmitted waves for different porosities are considered and the results show an excellent agreement with the proposed analytical theory and experimental data found in the literature.

In this study, a double-layer nerve guide conduit (DLNGC) that comprises an inner poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffold with palisade structure and an outer micro-porous chitosan-collagen composite (CSC) membrane was developed. The PLGA scaffold was fabricated using the commonly used soft-lithography process and then rolled into a tube. The micro-porous CSC membrane was fabricated by lyophilization (freeze-drying), with its pore size being controlled by the chitosan:collagen weight ratio. The CSC properties such as water absorption rate, permeation rate, and biocompatibility were then measured. The CSC containing 25% chitosan (CSC-25%) has a high water absorption and permeation rates. Hence, it was adopted as the outer structure of the developed nerve conduit scaffold. After wrapping a palisade PLGA tube with a CSC-25% membrane to complete a DLNGC, mouse brain neural stem cells KT98 were injected into the inner PLGA scaffold through the pores of the outer CSC membrane. Images of biopsy samples illustrate that KT98 cells can be immobilized on the CSC-25% membrane after seven days’ culture. On the 14th day of culture, the thickness of the KT98 cells was found to have increased, and the cells were wrapped around the PLGA scaffold. The tissue section image further indicated that KT98 cells grew along the palisade structure of the PLGA scaffold.

Abstract A two-dimensional infinite length porous slab is employed to simulate biomimetic porous scaffold. The pores of slab are saturated with a relatively low and high viscous fluids such as air and bone marrow. Ultrasonic waves based on the Biot-JKD formulation travel through the porous slab and create viscous exchanges between the skeletal frame and the fluid. The Biot-JKD formulation focuses on the parameters, biomarkers of the biomimetic porous scaffold, which are sensitive to the transmission and reflection signals. These parameters include porosity, tortuosity, viscous characteristic length, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio. An artificial neural network (ANN) based on a set of the biomarkers is rendered to model the transmitted and reflected waves from the porous slab. The validation of the proposed analytical approach and released artificial neural network is evaluated by the pertinent literature. The output of the artificial neural network, the transmitted-reflected waves, is inversely applied to the analytical expression to estimate the biomarkers associated with bone regeneration. The results show that for a medium filled with a relatively high viscous fluid the longitudinal waves are more prone to estimate mechanical properties of the medium such as Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio while the transverse waves, in addition to longitudinal waves, are essential to estimate the physical properties of the medium including porosity, tortuosity, and viscous characteristic length. Furthermore, it is also concluded that for the medium filled with a relatively low viscous fluid such as air the longitudinal waves alone is able to estimate the biomarkers, which reduce significantly the computational efforts.

Robots in domestic environments are receiving more attention, especially in scenarios where they should interact with parent-like trainers for dynamically acquiring and refining knowledge. In learning approaches, a promising extension has been to incorporate an external parent-like trainer into the learning cycle in order to scaffold and speed up the apprenticeship using advice about what actions should be performed for achieving a goal. Different uni modal control interfaces have been proposed that are often quite limited and do not take into account multiple sensor modalities. In this paper, we propose the integration of audiovisual patterns to provide advice to the agent using multi-modal information. In our approach, advice can be given using either speech, gestures, or a combination of both. We introduce a mathematical model to integrate multi modal information from uni-modal modules based on their confidence. Results show that multimodal integration leads to either strengthen or diminish the integrated confidence value in comparison to the uni-modal approaches.

Self-supervised learning has gradually emerged as a powerful technique for graph representation learning. However, transferable, generalizable, and robust representation learning on graph data still remains a challenge for pre-training graph neural networks. In this paper, we propose a simple and effective self-supervised pre-training strategy, named Pairwise Half-graph Discrimination (PHD), that explicitly pre-trains a graph neural network at graph-level. PHD is designed as a simple binary classification task to discriminate whether two half-graphs come from the same source. Experiments demonstrate that the PHD is an effective pre-training strategy that offers comparable or superior performance on 13 graph classification tasks compared with state-of-the-art strategies, and achieves notable improvements when combined with node-level strategies. Moreover, the visualization of learned representation revealed that PHD strategy indeed empowers the model to learn graph-level knowledge like the molecular scaffold. These results have established PHD as a powerful and effective self-supervised learning strategy in graph-level representation learning.

The general objective of this BARD project focused on rationally designed insect neuropeptide (NP) agonists and antagonists, their application for the characterization of the mechanisms of action of the pyrokinin/PBAN (PK-PBAN) family and the development of biostable, bioavailable versions that can provide the basis for development of novel, environmentally-friendly pest insect control agents. The specific objectives of the study, as originally proposed, were to: (i) Test stimulatory potencies of rationally designed backbone cyclic (BBC) peptides on pheromonotropic, melanotropic, myotropic and pupariation activities; (ii) Test the inhibitory potencies of the BBC compounds on the above activities evoked either by synthetic peptides (PBAN, LPK, myotropin and pheromonotropin) or by the natural endogenous mechanism; (iii) Determine the bioavailability of the most potent BBC compounds that will be found in (ii); (iv) Design, synthesize and examine novel PK/PBAN analogs with enhanced bioavailability and receptor binding; (v) Design and synthesize ‘magic bullet’ analogs and examine their ability to selectively kill cells expressing the PK/PBAN receptor. To achieve these goals the agonistic and antagonistic activities/properties of rationally designed linear and BBC neuropeptide (NP) were thoroughly studied and the information obtained was further used for the design and synthesis of improved compounds toward the design of an insecticide prototype. The study revealed important information on the structure activity relationship (SAR) of agonistic/antagonistic peptides, including definitive identification of the orientation of the Pro residue as trans for agonist activity in 4 PK/PBANbioassays (pheromonotropic, pupariation, melanotropic, & hindgut contractile) and a PK-related CAP₂b bioassay (diuretic); indications that led to the identification of a novel scaffold to develop biostbiostable, bioavailable peptidomimetic PK/PBANagonists/antagonists. The work led to the development of an arsenal of PK/PBAN antagonists with a variety of selectivity profiles; whether between different PKbioassays, or within the same bioassay between different natural elicitors. Examples include selective and non-selective BBC and novel amphiphilic PK pheromonotropic and melanotropic antagonists some of which are capable of penetrating the moth cuticle in efficacious quantities. One of the latter analog group demonstrated unprecedented versatility in its ability to antagonize a broad spectrum of pheromonotropic elicitors. A novel, transPro mimetic motif was proposed & used to develop a strong, selective PK agonist of the melanotropic bioassay in moths. The first antagonist (pure) of PK-related CAP₂b diuresis in flies was developed using a cisPro mimetic motif; an indication that while a transPro orientation is associated with receptor agonism, a cisPro orientation is linked with an antagonist interaction. A novel, biostablePK analog, incorporating β-amino acids at key peptidase-susceptible sites, exhibited in vivo pheromonotropic activity that by far exceeded that of PBAN when applied topically. Direct analysis of neural tissue by state-of-the-art MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry was used to identify specific PK/PK-related peptides native to eight arthropod pest species [house (M. domestica), stable (S. calcitrans), horn (H. irritans) & flesh (N. bullata) flies; Southern cattle fever tick (B. microplus), European tick (I. ricinus), yellow fever mosquito (A. aegypti), & Southern Green Stink Bug (N. viridula)]; including the unprecedented identification of mass-identical Leu/Ile residues and the first identification of NPs from a tick or the CNS of Hemiptera. Evidence was obtained for the selection of Neb-PK-2 as the primary pupariation factor of the flesh fly (N. bullata) among native PK/PK-related candidates. The peptidomic techniques were also used to map the location of PK/PK-related NP in the nervous system of the model fly D. melanogaster. Knowledge of specific PK sequences can aid in the future design of species specific (or non-specific) NP agonists/antagonists. In addition, the study led to the first cloning of a PK/PBAN receptor from insect larvae (S. littoralis), providing the basis for SAR analysis for the future design of 2ⁿᵈgeneration selective and/or nonselective agonists/antagonists. Development of a microplate ligand binding assay using the PK/PBAN pheromone gland receptor was also carried out. The assay will enable screening, including high throughput, of various libraries (chemical, molecular & natural product) for the discovery of receptor specific agonists/antagonists. In summary, the body of work achieves several key milestones and brings us significantly closer to the development of novel, environmentally friendly pest insect management agents based on insect PK/PBANNPs capable of disrupting critical NP-regulated functions.