Papers by Keyword: Growth Factors

Abstract: Osteochondral defects develop as a result of trauma, microtrauma, avascular necrosis or cancer. These are usually pre-arthrotic conditions, accompanied by chronic pain and limited joint mobility leading to decreased quality of life of the affected patients. The bone itself has self-repair potential facilitated by mesenchymal stem cells and other cells present in the bone tissue. On the other hand, mature cartilage has very low regenerative capacity due to limited mitotic potential of chondrocytes and lack of vascularization. Therefore, there is an effort to develop an alternative treatment strategy supporting and accelerating natural healing processes. We have designed nanofibrous scaffolds made of poly‑ε‑caprolactone/hyaluronic acid and enriched with specific growth factors – “osteogenic” part with BMP‑2 and “chondrogenic” part with bFGF and TGF‑β. These two parts are meant to be combined in one biphasic non‑cellular scaffold which would be possible to implant in the site of injury and serve as a mechanical support for the cells. We examined proliferation and viability of cells, depth of their penetration into scaffold, cell distribution, alkaline phosphatase activity and extracellular matrix proteins expression. We showed both “osteogenic” and “chondrogenic” scaffold was suitable for cell growth. Moreover, in comparison to the control samples, these two scaffolds exhibited positive effect on chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation, respectively.

Abstract: Skeletal disorders, caused by trauma, disease, or carcinoma, may result in tissue loss and, finally, in endoprosthesis. Tissue engineering offers an alternative - tissue scaffolds. Its constructs may be seeded with autologous cells or, alternatively, attract cells from the surrounding tissues. Such a scaffold must meet several requirements, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and suitable morphology for cell attachment and proliferation. Nonetheless, scaffold should stimulate cells migrated from the surrounding tissues to infiltrate the scaffold, proliferate and differentiate to the required cell type. In the current study, we developed a fibrous scaffold with 3D structure using emulsion centrifugal spinning. The scaffold from poly-ɛ-caprolactone contained a cocktail of growth factors, i.e. TGF-β, IGF and bFGF. The released growth factors enhanced cell proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation. The scaffold is a promising material for skeletal tissue engineering.

Abstract: All over the world a large number of people suffer from tooth diseases like dental caries, tooth abscess, and plaques. Tooth loss or damage, which occurs frequently in our society are generally repaired by applying several conventional methods, such as root-canal treatment, direct pulp capping and dental implants. These methods are quite painful, create damage to the surrounding tooth tissues and also may at times have adverse side-effects. The limitations of the conventional methods can be overcome by applying the concept of tooth tissue engineering. Tooth tissue engineering is the application of biosciences and engineering to regenerate a biofunctional tooth, which can be used to replace the missing tooth or repair the damaged tooth. Tissue engineering involves three key elements - cell, scaffold and growth factors, which interact with each other to regenerate a specific tissue. The success of tissue engineering depends on the proper selection of these three key elements and understanding the interactions among them. To bring us close to the realization of a tissue-engineered tooth, immense progress is going on in understanding how tooth is first developed, and there is a good advancement in tooth regeneration. In this review, “tooth tissue engineering” will be discussed, along with the recent advancements and challenges in bring a biofunctional tooth from laboratory out into clinical use.