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- Abteilung für Funktionswerkstoffe der Medizin und der Zahnheilkunde (151) (remove)
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Electrospun carbon nanofibers (CNFs), which were modified with hydroxyapatite, were fabricated to be used as a substrate for bone cell proliferation. The CNFs were derived from electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers after two steps of heat treatment: stabilization and carbonization. Carbon nanofibrous (CNF)/hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocomposites were prepared by two different methods; one of them being modification during electrospinning (CNF-8HA) and the second method being hydrothermal modification after carbonization (CNF-8HA; hydrothermally) to be used as a platform for bone tissue engineering. The biological investigations were performed using in-vitro cell counting, WST cell viability and cell morphology after three and seven days. L929 mouse fibroblasts were found to be more viable on the hydrothermally-modified CNF scaffolds than on the unmodified CNF scaffolds. The biological characterizations of the synthesized CNF/HA nanofibrous composites indicated higher capability of bone regeneration.
Animal models are important tools to investigate the pathogenesis and develop treatment strategies for breast cancer in humans. In this study, we developed a new three-dimensional in vivo arteriovenous loop model of human breast cancer with the aid of biodegradable materials, including fibrin, alginate, and polycaprolactone. We examined the in vivo effects of various matrices on the growth of breast cancer cells by imaging and immunohistochemistry evaluation. Our findings clearly demonstrate that vascularized breast cancer microtissues could be engineered and recapitulate the in vivo situation and tumor-stromal interaction within an isolated environment in an in vivo organism. Alginate–fibrin hybrid matrices were considered as a highly powerful material for breast tumor engineering based on its stability and biocompatibility. We propose that the novel tumor model may not only serve as an invaluable platform for analyzing and understanding the molecular mechanisms and pattern of oncologic diseases, but also be tailored for individual therapy via transplantation of breast cancer patient-derived tumors.
Within this thesis, three main approaches for the assessment and investigation of altered hemodynamics like wall shear stress, oscillatory shear index and the arterial pulse wave velocity in atherosclerosis development and progression were conducted:
1. The establishment of a fast method for the simultaneous assessment of 3D WSS and PWV in the complete murine aortic arch via high-resolution 4D-flow MRI
2. The utilization of serial in vivo measurements in atherosclerotic mouse models using high-resolution 4D-flow MRI, which were divided into studies describing altered hemodynamics in late and early atherosclerosis
3. The development of tissue-engineered artery models for the controllable application and variation of hemodynamic and biologic parameters, divided in native artery models and biofabricated artery models, aiming for the investigation of the relationship between atherogenesis and hemodynamics
Chapter 2 describes the establishment of a method for the simultaneous measurement of 3D WSS and PWV in the murine aortic arch at, using ultra high-field MRI at 17.6T [16], based on the previously published method for fast, self-navigated wall shear stress measurements in the murine aortic arch using radial 4D-phase contrast MRI at 17.6 T [4]. This work is based on the collective work of Dr. Patrick Winter, who developed the method and the author of this thesis, Kristina Andelovic, who performed the experiments and statistical analyses. As the method described in this chapter is basis for the following in vivo studies and undividable into the sub-parts of the contributors without losing important information, this chapter was not split into the single parts to provide fundamental information about the measurement and analysis methods and therefore better understandability for the following studies. The main challenge in this chapter was to overcome the issue of the need for a high spatial resolution to determine the velocity gradients at the vascular wall for the WSS quantification and a high temporal resolution for the assessment of the PWV without prolonging the acquisition time due to the need for two separate measurements. Moreover, for a full coverage of the hemodynamics in the murine aortic arch, a 3D measurement is needed, which was achieved by utilization of retrospective navigation and radial trajectories, enabling a highly flexible reconstruction framework to either reconstruct images at lower spatial resolution and higher frame rates for the acquisition of the PWV or higher spatial resolution and lower frame rates for the acquisition of the 3D WSS in a reasonable measurement time of only 35 minutes. This enabled the in vivo assessment of all relevant hemodynamic parameters related to atherosclerosis development and progression in one experimental session. This method was validated in healthy wild type and atherosclerotic Apoe-/- mice, indicating no differences in robustness between pathological and healthy mice.
The heterogeneous distribution of plaque development and arterial stiffening in atherosclerosis [10, 12], however, points out the importance of local PWV measurements. Therefore, future studies should focus on the 3D acquisition of the local PWV in the murine aortic arch based on the presented method, in order to enable spatially resolved correlations of local arterial stiffness with other hemodynamic parameters and plaque composition.
In Chapter 3, the previously established methods were used for the investigation of changing aortic hemodynamics during ageing and atherosclerosis in healthy wild type and atherosclerotic Apoe-/- mice using the previously established methods [4, 16] based on high-resolution 4D-flow MRI. In this work, serial measurements of healthy and atherosclerotic mice were conducted to track all changes in hemodynamics in the complete aortic arch over time. Moreover, spatially resolved 2D projection maps of WSS and OSI of the complete aortic arch were generated. This important feature allowed for the pixel-wise statistical analysis of inter- and intragroup hemodynamic changes over time and most importantly – at a glance. The study revealed converse differences of local hemodynamic profiles in healthy WT and atherosclerotic Apoe−/− mice, with decreasing longWSS and increasing OSI, while showing constant PWV in healthy mice and increasing longWSS and decreasing OSI, while showing increased PWV in diseased mice. Moreover, spatially resolved correlations between WSS, PWV, plaque and vessel wall characteristics were enabled, giving detailed insights into coherences between hemodynamics and plaque composition. Here, the circWSS was identified as a potential marker of plaque size and composition in advanced atherosclerosis. Moreover, correlations with PWV values identified the maximum radStrain could serve as a potential marker for vascular elasticity. This study demonstrated the feasibility and utility of high-resolution 4D flow MRI to spatially resolve, visualize and analyze statistical differences in all relevant hemodynamic parameters over time and between healthy and diseased mice, which could significantly improve our understanding of plaque progression towards vulnerability. In future studies the relation of vascular elasticity and radial strain should be further investigated and validated with local PWV measurements and CFD.
Moreover, the 2D histological datasets were not reflecting the 3D properties and regional characteristics of the atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, future studies will include 3D plaque volume and composition analysis like morphological measurements with MRI or light-sheet microscopy to further improve the analysis of the relationship between hemodynamics and atherosclerosis.
Chapter 4 aimed at the description and investigation of hemodynamics in early stages of atherosclerosis. Moreover, this study included measurements of hemodynamics at baseline levels in healthy WT and atherosclerotic mouse models. Due to the lack of hemodynamic-related studies in Ldlr-/- mice, which are the most used mouse models in atherosclerosis research together with the Apoe-/- mouse model, this model was included in this study to describe changing hemodynamics in the aortic arch at baseline levels and during early atherosclerosis development and progression for the first time. In this study, distinct differences in aortic geometries of these mouse models at baseline levels were described for the first time, which result in significantly different flow- and WSS profiles in the Ldlr-/- mouse model. Further basal characterization of different parameters revealed only characteristic differences in lipid profiles, proving that the geometry is highly influencing the local WSS in these models. Most interestingly, calculation of the atherogenic index of plasma revealed a significantly higher risk in Ldlr-/- mice with ongoing atherosclerosis development, but significantly greater plaque areas in the aortic arch of Apoe-/- mice. Due to the given basal WSS and OSI profile in these two mouse models – two parameters highly influencing plaque development and progression – there is evidence that the regional plaque development differs between these mouse models during very early atherogenesis.
Therefore, future studies should focus on the spatiotemporal evaluation of plaque development and composition in the three defined aortic regions using morphological measurements with MRI or 3D histological analyses like LSFM. Moreover, this study offers an excellent basis for future studies incorporating CFD simulations, analyzing the different measured parameter combinations (e.g., aortic geometry of the Ldlr-/- mouse with the lipid profile of the Apoe-/- mouse), simulating the resulting plaque development and composition. This could help to understand the complex interplay between altered hemodynamics, serum lipids and atherosclerosis and significantly improve our basic understanding of key factors initiating atherosclerosis development.
Chapter 5 describes the establishment of a tissue-engineered artery model, which is based on native, decellularized porcine carotid artery scaffolds, cultured in a MRI-suitable bioreactor-system [23] for the investigation of hemodynamic-related atherosclerosis development in a controllable manner, using the previously established methods for WSS and PWV assessment [4, 16]. This in vitro artery model aimed for the reduction of animal experiments, while simultaneously offering a simplified, but completely controllable physical and biological environment. For this, a very fast and gentle decellularization protocol was established in a first step, which resulted in porcine carotid artery scaffolds showing complete acellularity while maintaining the extracellular matrix composition, overall ultrastructure and mechanical strength of native arteries. Moreover, a good cellular adhesion and proliferation was achieved, which was evaluated with isolated human blood outgrowth endothelial cells. Most importantly, an MRI-suitable artery chamber was designed for the simultaneous cultivation and assessment of high-resolution 4D hemodynamics in the described artery models. Using high-resolution 4D-flow MRI, the bioreactor system was proven to be suitable to quantify the volume flow, the two components of the WSS and the radStrain as well as the PWV in artery models, with obtained values being comparable to values found in literature for in vivo measurements. Moreover, the identification of first atherosclerotic processes like intimal thickening is achievable by three-dimensional assessment of the vessel wall morphology in the in vitro models. However, one limitation is the lack of a medial smooth muscle cell layer due to the dense ECM. Here, the utilization of the laser-cutting technology for the generation of holes and / or pits on a microscale, eventually enabling seeding of the media with SMCs showed promising results in a first try and should be further investigated in future studies. Therefore, the proposed artery model possesses all relevant components for the extension to an atherosclerosis model which may pave the way towards a significant improvement of our understanding of the key mechanisms in atherogenesis.
Chapter 6 describes the development of an easy-to-prepare, low cost and fully customizable artery model based on biomaterials. Here, thermoresponsive sacrificial scaffolds, processed with the technique of MEW were used for the creation of variable, biomimetic shapes to mimic the geometric properties of the aortic arch, consisting of both, bifurcations and curvatures. After embedding the sacrificial scaffold into a gelatin-hydrogel containing SMCs, it was crosslinked with bacterial transglutaminase before dissolution and flushing of the sacrificial scaffold. The hereby generated channel was subsequently seeded with ECs, resulting in an easy-to-prepare, fast and low-cost artery model. In contrast to the native artery model, this model is therefore more variable in size and shape and offers the possibility to include smooth muscle cells from the beginning. Moreover, a custom-built and highly adaptable perfusion chamber was designed specifically for the scaffold structure, which enabled a one-step creation and simultaneously offering the possibility for dynamic cultivation of the artery models, making it an excellent basis for the development of in vitro disease test systems for e.g., flow-related atherosclerosis research. Due to time constraints, the extension to an atherosclerosis model could not be achieved within the scope of this thesis. Therefore, future studies will focus on the development and validation of an in vitro atherosclerosis model based on the proposed bi- and three-layered artery models.
In conclusion, this thesis paved the way for a fast acquisition and detailed analyses of changing hemodynamics during atherosclerosis development and progression, including spatially resolved analyses of all relevant hemodynamic parameters over time and in between different groups. Moreover, to reduce animal experiments, while gaining control over various parameters influencing atherosclerosis development, promising artery models were established, which have the potential to serve as a new platform for basic atherosclerosis research.
Various (AB)\(_{n}\) and (ABAC)\(_{n}\) segmented copolymers with hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments are processed via melt electrowriting (MEW). Two different (AB)\(_{n}\) segmented copolymers composed of bisurea segments and hydrophobic poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) or hydrophilic poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) (PPO-PEG-PPO) segments, while the amphiphilic (ABAC)\(_{n}\) segmented copolymers consist of bisurea segments in the combination of hydrophobic PDMS segments and hydrophilic PPO-PEG-PPO segments with different ratios, are explored. All copolymer compositions are processed using the same conditions, including nozzle temperature, applied voltage, and collector distance, while changes in applied pressure and collector speed altered the fiber diameter in the range of 7 and 60 µm. All copolymers showed excellent processability with MEW, well-controlled fiber stacking, and inter-layer bonding. Notably, the surfaces of all four copolymer fibers are very smooth when visualized using scanning electron microscopy. However, the fibers show different roughness demonstrated with atomic force microscopy. The non-cytotoxic copolymers increased L929 fibroblast attachment with increasing PDMS content while the different copolymer compositions result in a spectrum of physical properties.
Biomimetic calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings imitate the trabecular bones surface structure and have shown to promote osteogenic differentiation in multipotent cells. The work of this thesis focused on the problem of former CaP coatings cracking and flaking off when being put on a bendable core structure like a 3D-printed poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold. The aim was to provide a chemical linkage between PCL and CaP using a star-shaped polymer (sPEG) and a phosphonate, 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid (2-AEP). First, a published CaP coating protocol was revised and investigated in terms of etching parameters for the PCL scaffold. Results presented reproducible thick coatings for all groups. The protocol was then broadened to include subsequent scaffold incubation in sPEG and 2-AEP solutions. Homogenous CaP coatings of decreased thickness presented themselves, proving feasibility. However, as is often found with physical CaP coating depositions, there were some irregular outcomes even during the same experimental group. A lower consumption of the chemical 2-AEP, for economic reasons, meant that the protocol was altered to simultaneously incubate scaffolds with sPEG and 2-AEP including preceding calculations for molar ratios. For ratios 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3, again a homogenous CaP coating was produced on most of the samples, although reproducibility issues maintained. However, the mechanical bending to induce surface cracking showed that the CaP did strongly bond to the sPEG/2-AEP, while the control CaP coating flaked off the surface in large pieces. This research demonstrates that chemically-bound CaP coatings resist flaking off the fiber surface. Future investigations should focus on the mechanisms of CaP crystallization, to improve reproducibility.
Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war die Herstellung und Erprobung von innovativen Anwendungsformen kalthärtender Knochenersatzmaterialien aus Calcium-, und Magnesiumphosphaten, die nach dem Abbindevorgang vorzugsweise aus dem Mineral Struvit (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) bestehen. Diese neuartigen Knochenzemente versprechen im Vergleich zu den herkömmlichen Knochenersatzmaterialien eine deutlich schnellere knöcherne Regeneration und Abbaubarkeit. Damit wird das Ziel verfolgt schneller Implantate setzen zu können und dem Patienten somit eine lange Wartezeit und dementsprechenden Leidensdruck ersparen zu können. Ebenso müssen konventionelle Produkte erst im OP angerührt und hiernach in einem schmalen Zeitfenser verarbeitet werden. Die präfabrizierten Zement-Pasten sind dagegen direkt applikationsbereit und härten erst nach Kontakt mit dem feuchten Milieu aus. In vorangegangenen Projekten wurden sowohl präfabrizierte Pasten als auch Granulate auf Basis Struvit-bildender Calcium-Magnesiumphosphate erfolgreich entwickelt. Vorteil dieser Granulate ist ihre sphärische Form. Im Hinblick auf die klinische Anwendbarkeit sollten in der vorliegenden Studie beide Anwendungsformen vorgreifend auf eine tierexperimentelle Studie hinsichtlich ihrer Materialeigenschaften in vitro getestet werden.
Aim of this thesis was the development of functionalizable hydrogel coatings for melt electrowritten PCL scaffolds and of bioprintable hydrogels for biofabrication.
Hydrogel coatings of melt electrowritten scaffolds enabled to control the surface hydrophilicity, thereby allowing cell-material interaction studies of biofunctionalized scaffolds in minimal protein adhesive environments. For this purpose, a hydrophilic star- shaped crosslinkable polymer was used and the coating conditions were optimized. Moreover, newly developed photosensitive scaffolds facilitated a time and pH independent biofunctionalization.
Bioprintable hydrogels for biofabrication were based on the allyl-functionalization of gelatin (GelAGE) and modified hyaluronic acid-products, to enable hydrogel crosslinking by means of the thiol-ene click chemistry. Optimization of GelAGE hydrogel properties was achieved through an in-depth analysis of the synthesis parameters, varying Ene:SH ratios, different crosslinking molecules and photoinitiators. Homogeneity of thiol-ene crosslinked networks was compared to free radical polymerized hydrogels and the applicability of GelAGE as bioink for extrusion-based bioprinting was investigated. Purely hyaluronic acid-based bioinks were hypothesized to maintain mechanical- and rheological properties, cell viabilities and the processability, upon further decreasing the overall hydrogel polymer and thiol content.
Hydrogel coatings: Highly structured PCL scaffolds were fabricated with MEW and subjected to coatings with six-armed star-shaped crosslinkable polymers (sP(EO-stat-PO)). Crosslinking results from the aqueous induced hydrolysis of reactive isocyanate groups (NCO) of sP(EO-stat-PO) and increased the surface hydrophilicity and provided a platform for biofunctionalizations in minimal protein adhesive environments. Not only the coating procedure was optimized with respect to sP(EO-stat-PO) concentrations and coating durations, instead scaffold pre-treatments were developed, which were fundamental to enhance the final hydrophilicity to completely avoid unspecific protein adsorption on sP(EO-stat-PO) coated scaffolds. The sP(EO-stat-PO) layer thickness of around 100 nm generally allows in vitro studies not only in dependence on the scaffold biofunctionalization but also on the scaffold architecture. The hydrogel coating extent was assessed via an indirect quantification of the NCO-hydrolysis products. Knowledge of NCO-hydrolysis kinetics enabled to achieve a balance of sufficiently coated scaffolds while maintaining the presence of NCO-groups that were exploited for subsequent biofunctionalizations. However, this time and pH dependent biofunctionalization was restricted to small biomolecules. In order to overcome this limitation and to couple high molecular weight biomolecules another reaction route was developed. This route was based on the photolysis of diazirine moieties and enabled a time and pH independent scaffold biofunctionalization with streptavidin and collagen type I. The fibril formation ability of collagen was used to obtain different collagen conformations on the scaffolds and a preliminary in vitro study demonstrated the applicability to investigate cell-material interactions.
The herein developed scaffolds could be applied to gain deeper insights into the fundamentals of cellular sensing. Especially the complexity by which cells sense e.g. collagen remain to be further elucidated. Therefore, different hierarchies of collagen-like conformations could be coupled to the scaffolds, e.g. gelatin or collagen-derived peptide sequences, and the activation of DDR receptors in dependence on the complexity of the coupled substances could be determined. Due to the strong streptavidin-biotin bond, streptavidin functionalized scaffolds could be applied as a versatile platform to allow immobilization of any biotinylated molecules.
Gelatin-based bioinks: First the GelAGE products were synthesized with respect to molecular weight distributions and amino acid composition integrity. A detailed study was conducted with varying molar ratios of reactants and synthesis durations and implied that gelatin degradation was most dominant for high alkaline synthesis conditions with long reaction times. Gelatin possesses multiple functionalizable groups and the predominant functionalization of amine groups was confirmed via different model substances and analyses. Polymer network homogeneity was proven for the GelAGE system compared to free radical polymerized hydrogels with GelMA. A detailed analysis of hydrogel compositions with varying functional group ratios and UV- or Vis-light photoinitiators was executed. The UV-initiator concentration is restricted due to cytotoxicity and potential cellular DNA damages upon UV-irradiation, whereas the more cytocompatible Vis- initiator system enabled mechanical stiffness tuning over a wide range by controlling the photoinitiator concentration at constant Ene:SH ratios and polymer weight percentages. Versatility of the GelAGE bioink for different AM techniques was proved by exploiting the thermo-gelling behavior of differently degraded GelAGE products for stereolithography and extrusion-based printing. Moreover, the viability of cell-laden GelAGE constructs was demonstrated for extrusion-based bioprinting. By applying different multifunctional thiol-macromolecular crosslinkers the mechanical and rheological properties improved concurrently to the processability. Importantly, lower thiol-crosslinker concentrations were required to yield superior mechanical strengths and physico-chemical properties of the hydrogels as compared to the small bis-thiol-crosslinker. Extrusion-based bioprinting with distinct encapsulated cells underlined the need for individual optimization of cell-laden hydrogel formulations.
Not only the viability of encapsulated cells in extrusion-based bioprinted constructs should be assessed, instead other parameters such as cell morphology or production of collagen or glycosaminoglycans should be considered as these represent some of the crucial prerequisites for cartilage Tissue Engineering applications. Moreover, these studies should be expanded to the stereolithographic approach and ultimately the versatility and cytocompatibility of formulations with macromolecular crosslinkers would be of interest. Macromolecular crosslinkers allowed reducing polymer weight percentages and amounts of thiol groups and are thus expected to contribute to increased cytocompatibility, especially in combination with the more cytocompatible Vis-initiator system, which remains to be elucidated.
Hyaluronic acid-based bioinks: Different molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HA) products were synthesized to bear ene- (HAPA) or thiol-functionalities (LHASH) to enable pure HA thiol-ene crosslinked hydrogels. Depending on the molecular weight of modified HA products, polymer weight percentages and Ene:SH ratios, a wide range of mechanical stiffness was covered. However, the manageability of high molecular weight HA (HHAPA) product solutions (HHAPA + LHASH) was restricted to 5.0 wt.-% as a consequence of the high viscosity. Based on the same HA thiol component (LHASH), hybrid hydrogels of HA with GelAGE were compared to pure HA hydrogels. Although the overall polymer weight percentage of HHAPA + LHASH hydrogels was significantly lowered compared to hybrid hydrogels (GelAGE + LHASH), similar mechanical and physico-chemical properties of pure HA hydrogels were determined with maintained Ene:SH ratios. Low viscous low molecular weight HA precursor solutions (LHAPA + LHASH) prevented the applicability for extrusion-based bioprinting, whereas the non-thermoresponsive HHAPA + LHASH system could be bioprinted with only one-fourth of the polymer content of hybrid formulations. The high viscous behavior of HHAPA + LHASH solutions, lower polymer weight percentages, decreased printing pressures and consequently declined shear stress during printing, were hypothesized to contribute to high cell viabilities in extrusion-based bioprinted constructs compared to the hybrid bioink.
The low molecular weight HA precursor formulation (LHAPA + LHASH) was not applicable for extrusion-based printing, but this system has potential for other AM techniques such as stereolithography. Similar to the GelAGE system a more detailed study on the functions of encapsulated cells would be useful to further develop this system. Moreover, the initiation with the Vis-initiator should be conducted.
The implantation of any foreign material into the body automatically starts an immune reaction that serves as the first, mandatory step to regenerate tissue. The course of this initial immune reaction decides on the fate of the implant: either the biomaterial will be integrated into the host tissue to subsequently fulfill its intended function (e.g., tissue regeneration), or it will be repelled by fibrous encapsulation that determines the implant failure. Especially neutrophils and macrophages play major roles during this inflammatory response and hence mainly decide on the biomaterial's fate. For clinically relevant tissue engineering approaches, biomaterials may be designed in shape and morphology as well as in their surface functionality to improve the healing outcome, but also to trigger stem cell responses during the subsequent tissue regeneration phase.
The main focus of this thesis was to unravel the influence of scaffold characteristics, including scaffold morphology and surface functionality, on primary human innate immune cells (neutrophils and macrophages) and human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) to assess their in vitro immune response and tissue regeneration capacity, respectively. The fiber-based constructs were produced either via melt electrowriting (MEW), when the precise control over scaffold morphology was required, or via solution electrospinning (ES), when the scaffold design could be neglected. All the fiber-based scaffolds used throughout this thesis were composed of the polymer poly(ε caprolactone) (PCL).
A novel strategy to model and alleviate the first direct cell contact of the immune system with a peptide-bioactived fibrous material was presented in chapter 3 by treating the material with human neutrophil elastase (HNE) to imitate the neutrophil attack. The main focus of this study was put on the effect of HNE towards an RGDS-based peptide that was immobilized on the surface of a fibrous material to improve subsequent L929 cell adhesion. The elastase efficiently degraded the peptide-functionality, as evidenced by a decreased L929 cell adhesion, since the peptide integrated a specific HNE-cleavage site (AAPV-motif). A sacrificial hydrogel coating based on primary oxidized hyaluronic acid (proxHA), which dissolved within a few days after the neutrophil attack, provided an optimal protection of the peptide-bioactivated fibrous mesh, i.e, the hydrogel alleviated the neutrophil attack and largely ensured the biomaterial's integrity. Thus, according to these results, a means to protect the biomaterial is required to overcome the neutrophil attack.
Chapter 4 was based on the advancement of melt electrowriting (MEW) to improve the printing resolution of MEW scaffolds in terms of minimal inter-fiber distances and a concomitant high stacking precision. Initially, to gain a better MEW understanding, the influence of several parameters, including spinneret diameter, applied pressure, and collector velocity on mechanical properties, crystallinity, fiber diameter and fiber surface morphology was analyzed. Afterward, innovative MEW designs (e.g., box-, triangle-, round , and wall-shaped scaffolds) have been established by pushing the printing parameters to their physical limits. Further, the inter-fiber distance within a standardized box-structured scaffold was successfully reduced to 40 µm, while simultaneously a high stacking precision was maintained. In collaboration with a co-worker of my department (Tina Tylek, who performed all cell-based experiments in this study), these novel MEW scaffolds have been proven to facilitate human monocyte-derived macrophage polarization towards the regenerative M2 type in an elongation-driven manner with a more pronounced effect with decreasing pore sizes.
Finally, a pro-adipogenic platform for hMSCs was developed in chapter 5 using MEW scaffolds with immobilized, complex ECM proteins (e.g., human decellularized adipose tissue (DAT), laminin (LN), and fibronectin (FN)) to test for the adipogenic differentiation potential in vitro. Within this thesis, a special short-term adipogenic induction regime enabled to more thoroughly assess the intrinsic pro-adipogenic capacity of the composite biomaterials and prevented any possible masking by the commonly used long-term application of adipogenic differentiation reagents. The scaffolds with incorporated DAT consistently showed the highest adipogenic outcome and hence provided an adipo-inductive microenvironment for hMSCs, which holds great promise for applications in soft tissue regeneration.
Future studies should combine all three addressed projects in a more in vivo-related manner, comprising a co-cultivation setup of neutrophils, macrophages, and MSCs. The MEW-scaffold, particularly due to its ability to combine surface functionality and adjustable morphology, has been proven to be a successful approach for wound healing and paves the way for subsequent tissue regeneration.
Biointerface engineering is a wide-spread strategy to improve the healing process and subsequent tissue integration of biomaterials. Especially the integration of specific peptides is one promising strategy to promote the regenerative capacity of implants and 3D scaffolds. In vivo, these tailored interfaces are, however, first confronted with the innate immune response. Neutrophils are cells with pronounced proteolytic potential and the first recruited immune cells at the implant site; nonetheless, they have so far been underappreciated in the design of biomaterial interfaces. Herein, an in vitro approach is introduced to model and analyze the neutrophil interaction with bioactivated materials at the example of nano-bioinspired electrospun surfaces that reveals the vulnerability of a given biointerface design to the contact with neutrophils. A sacrificial, transient hydrogel coating that demonstrates optimal protection for peptide-modified surfaces and thus alleviates the immediate cleavage by neutrophil elastase is further introduced.
Calcium phosphate cement (CPC) is a well-established bone replacement material in dentistry and orthopedics. CPC mimics the physicochemical properties of natural bone and therefore shows excellent in vivo behavior. However, due to their brittleness, the application of CPC implants is limited to non-load bearing areas. Generally, the fiber-reinforcement of ceramic materials enhances fracture resistance, but simultaneously reduces the strength of the composite. Combining strong C-fiber reinforcement with a hydroxyapatite to form a CPC with a chemical modification of the fiber surface allowed us to adjust the fiber–matrix interface and consequently the fracture behavior. Thus, we could demonstrate enhanced mechanical properties of CPC in terms of bending strength and work of fracture to a strain of 5% (WOF5). Hereby, the strength increased by a factor of four from 9.2 ± 1.7 to 38.4 ± 1.7 MPa. Simultaneously, the WOF5 increased from 0.02 ± 0.004 to 2.0 ± 0.6 kJ∙m−2, when utilizing an aqua regia/CaCl2 pretreatment. The cell proliferation and activity of MG63 osteoblast-like cells as biocompatibility markers were not affected by fiber addition nor by fiber treatment. CPC reinforced with chemically activated C-fibers is a promising bone replacement material for load-bearing applications.
Despite advances in cartilage repair strategies, treatment of focal chondral lesions remains an important challenge to prevent osteoarthritis. Articular cartilage is organized into several layers and lack of zonal organization of current grafts is held responsible for insufficient biomechanical and biochemical quality of repair-tissue. The aim was to develop a zonal approach for cartilage regeneration to determine whether the outcome can be improved compared to a non-zonal strategy. Hydrogel-filled polycaprolactone (PCL)-constructs with a chondrocyte-seeded upper-layer deemed to induce hyaline cartilage and a mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-containing bottom-layer deemed to induce calcified cartilage were compared to chondrocyte-based non-zonal grafts in a minipig model. Grafts showed comparable hardness at implantation and did not cause visible signs of inflammation. After 6 months, X-ray microtomography (µCT)-analysis revealed significant bone-loss in both treatment groups compared to empty controls. PCL-enforcement and some hydrogel-remnants were retained in all defects, but most implants were pressed into the subchondral bone. Despite important heterogeneities, both treatments reached a significantly lower modified O’Driscoll-score compared to empty controls. Thus, PCL may have induced bone-erosion during joint loading and misplacement of grafts in vivo precluding adequate permanent orientation of zones compared to surrounding native cartilage.
Mucin, a high molecular mass hydrophilic glycoprotein, is the main component of mucus that coats every wet epithelium in animals. It is thus intrinsically biocompatible, and with its protein backbone and the o-glycosidic bound oligosaccharides, it contains a plethora of functional groups which can be used for further chemical modifications. Here, chain-growth and step-growth (thiol-ene) free-radical cross-linked hydrogels prepared from commercially available pig gastric mucin (PGM) are introduced and compared as cost-efficient and easily accessible alternative to the more broadly applied bovine submaxillary gland mucin. For this, PGM is functionalized with photoreactive acrylate groups or allyl ether moieties, respectively. Whereas homopolymerization of acrylate-functionalized polymers is performed, for thiol-ene cross-linking, the allyl-ether-functionalized PGM is cross-linked with thiol-functionalized hyaluronic acid. Morphology, mechanical properties, and cell compatibility of both kinds of PGM hydrogels are characterized and compared. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of these hydrogels can be evaluated in cell culture experiments.
Der Einfluss von Laktobazillen auf Oberfläche und Eigenschaften von verschiedenen Nahtmaterialien
(2015)
Hintergrund: Nach oralchirurgischen Eingriffen empfiehlt der Operateur allgemein die Vermeidung von Milchprodukten in Hinblick auf eine bessere Heilung im Wundgebiet. Dies stützt sich u.a. auf die Annahme, dass Laktobazillen und ihre Stoffwechselprodukte (z.B. Milchsäure) Nahtmaterial angreifen können. Der Aufbau dieser Studie zielte darauf ab, diesen Sachverhalt in Frage zu stellen und Funktionsverluste bei Milchsäureexposition sowie Besieldungsverhalten der Bakterien zu charakterisieren.
Material und Methoden: Polyamid (PA), Polyester/Polyethylenterephtalat (PET), Polypropylen (PP), Polyvinylidenfluorid (PVDF), Seide, Polyglycolsäure (PGA bzw. PGACL), teilweise mit Polylactid (PLA), Polydioxanon (PDO) und Polytetrafluorethylen (PTFE) kamen zur Anwendung. Die Fäden wurden mit L.acidophilus (LAC) beimpft, inkubiert und anschließen im Tensiometer mit verschiedenen Knotenvarianten getestet. Für die Keimbesiedlung (CFU) wurden die Fäden beimpft, inkubiert und das Keimmaterial anschließend mit Ultraschall- Vortex- Verfahren vom Faden abgelöst und ausgezählt. Dieses Verfahren wurde durch REM- Aufnahmen zusätzlich bewertet.
Ergebnisse: Reißfestigkeiten waren stets im Rahmen der Herstellerangaben bzw. darüber zu verzeichnen. Alle resorbierbaren Fäden hatten höhere Ausgangsreißkräfte als die nichtresorbierbaren Produkte. Die Applikation eines Knotens minderte ausschlaggebend für alle Produkte die maximale Reißfestigkeit eines Materials. Die Knotenhaltbarkeiten konnten sich während der Liegezeit im sauren wässrigen Milieu verändern. Die für klinische Anwendungen besten Ergebnisse verzeichneten PA als nichtresorbierbare, monofiles PDO und polyfiles PGA/PLA + CHX als resorbierbare Vertreter. Eine erhöhte CFU-Zahl auf polyfilen Fäden im Vergleich zu monofilen Fäden wurde bestätigt. Seide (polyfil, nicht resorbierbar) hatte mit Abstand die höchsten CFU, gefolgt von PGACL (polyfil, resorbierbar). PVDF (monofil, nichtresorbierbar) hatte die niedrigsten CFU- Werte. Im Schnitt war die CFU-Zahl von PGA/PLA+CHX (polyfil, resorbierbar) ähnlich hoch wie die von monofilen Produkten.
Diskussion: Die Annahme, dass eine Kontamination mit LAC den Heilungserfolg beeinflussen kann, wurde im Hinblick auf Materialermüdung durch Säureexposition aus Stoffwechselprodukten des Bakteriums entkräftet. Die für klinische Anwendungen besten Ergebnisse verzeichneten PA als nichtresorbierbare, polyfiles PGA/PLA + CHX als resorbierbare Vertreter. Alle getesteten Produkte entsprachen trotz LAC- Einwirkungen den Herstellerangaben und haben somit die materiellen Voraussetzungen einer vorhersagbaren Nahthaltbarkeit erbracht.
Calcium phosphate cements (CPC) represent valuable synthetic bone grafts, as they are self-setting, biocompatible, osteoconductive and in their composition similar to the inorganic phase of human bone. Due to their long shelf-life, neutral setting and since water is sufficient for setting, hydroxyapatite (HA) forming cements are processed in different paste formulations. Those comprise dual setting, Ca2+ binding and premixed cement systems. With dual setting formulations, both dissolution and precipitation of the cement raw powder occur simultaneously to the polymerization of water-soluble monomers to form a hydrogel. Chelating agents are able to form complexes with Ca2+ released from the raw powder. Premixed systems mostly contain the raw powder of the cement and a non-aqueous binder liquid which delays the setting reaction until application in the moist physiological environment. In the present work, two of those reaction mechanisms allowed the development of HA based cement applications.
Drillable cements are of high clinical interest, as the quality of screw and plate osteosynthesis techniques can be improved by cement augmentation. A drillable, dual setting composite from HA and a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogel was analyzed with respect to the influence of monomer content and powder-to-liquid ratio on setting kinetics and mechanical outcome. While the conversion to HA and crystal growth were constantly confined with increased monomer amount, a minimum concentration of 50 % was required to see impressive ameliorations including a low bending modulus and high fracture energy at improved bending strength. Increasing the liquid amount enabled injection of the paste as well as drilling after 10 min of pre-setting.
While classic bone wax formulations have drawbacks such as infection, inflammation, hindered osteogenesis and a lack of biodegradability, the as-presented premixed formulation is believed to exhibit outmatching properties. It consisted of HA raw powders and a non-aqueous, but water-miscible carrier liquid from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The bone wax was proved to be cohesive and malleable, it withstood blood pressure conditions and among deposition in an aqueous environment, PEG was exchanged such that porous, nanocrystalline HA was formed. Incorporation of a model antibiotic proved the suitability of the novel bone wax formulation for drug release purposes.
Prefabricated laminates from premixed carbonated apatite forming cement and poly(ε-caprolactone) fiber mats with defined pore architecture were presented as a potential approach for the treatment of 2-dimensional, curved cranial defects. They are flexible until application and were produced in a layer-by-layer approach from both components such that the polymer scaffold prevents the cement from flowing. It was demonstrated that solution electrospinning with a patterned collector for the fabrication of perforated fiber mats was suitable, as high fiber volume contents in combination with an appropriate interface enabled the successful fabrication of mechanically reinforced laminates. Mild immersion of the scaffolds under alkaline conditions additionally improved the interphase followed by an increase in bending-strength.
Since few years, magnesium phosphate cements (MPC) have attracted increasing attention for bone replacement. Compared to CPC, MPC exhibit a higher degradation potential and high early strength and they release biologically valuable Mg2+. However, common systems offer some challenges while using them in non-classic cement formulations such as the need for foreign ion supply, the potential acidity of the reaction or the fast setting kinetics. Here, it was possible to develop a chelate-setting MPC paste with a broad spectrum of potential applications.
The general mechanism of the novel setting principle was tested in a proof-of-principle manner. The cement paste consisted of farringtonite with differently concentrated phytic acid solution for chelate formation with Mg2+ from the raw powder. Adjusting the phytic acid content and adding a magnesium oxide as setting regulator to compensate its retarding effect resulted in drillable formulations. Additionally, there is a strong clinical demand for well working bone adhesives especially in a moist environment. Mostly the existing formulations are non-biodegradable. Ex vivo adhesion of the above presented MPC under wet conditions on bone demonstrated over a course of 7 d shear strengths of 0.8 MPa. Further, the hardened cement specimens showed a mass loss of 2 wt.% within 24 d in an aqueous environment and released about 0.17 mg/g of osteogenic Mg2+ per day. Together with the demonstrated cytocompatibility towards human fetal osteoblasts, this cement system showed promising characteristics in terms of degradable biocements with special application purposes.
Mineral bone cements were actually not developed for their application as bone-bonding agents, but as bone void fillers. In particular, calcium phosphate cements (CPC) are considered to be unsuitable for that application, particularly under moist conditions. Here, we showed the ex vivo ability of different magnesium phosphate cements (MPC) to adhere on bovine cortical bone substrates. The cements were obtained from a mixture of farringtonite (Mg\(_3\)(PO\(_4\))\(_2\)) with different amounts of phytic acid (C\(_6\)H\(_{18}\)O\(_{24}\)P\(_6\), inositol hexaphosphate, IP6), whereas cement setting occurred by a chelation reaction between Mg\(^{2+}\) ions and IP6. We were able to show that cements with 25% IP6 and a powder-to-liquid ratio (PLR) of 2.0 g/mL resulted in shear strengths of 0.81 ± 0.12 MPa on bone even after 7 d storage in aqueous conditions. The samples showed a mixed adhesive–cohesive failure with cement residues on the bone surface as indicated by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The presented material demonstrated appropriate bonding characteristics, which could enable a broadening of the mineral bone cements’ application field to bone adhesives
The focus of this thesis was to investigate how PCL and PLGA react to the heat exposure that comes with the MEW process over a defined timespan.
To assess the thermal stability of PCL during MEW over 25 d, an automated collection of fibers has been used to determine the CTS on each day of heating for three different temperatures. PCL is exceptionally stable over 25 d at 75 °C, whereas for 85 °C and 95 °C a slight upward trend during the last 10 d could be observed, which is an indication for thermal degradation. Same trend could be observed for diameter of fibers produced at a fixed collector speed. For all temperatures, CTS during the first 5 d decreased due to inhomogeneities of the melt. Physical analysis of the fibers by XRD and mechanical testing showed no significant changes.
To investigate the chemical details of the thermal durability, PCL was artificially aged over 25 d at 75 °C, 85 °C and 95 °C. Data from GPC analysis and rheology revealed that PCL is degrading steadily at all three temperatures. Combined with GC-MS analysis, two different mechanisms for degradation could be observed: random chain scission and unzipping. Additional GPC experiment using a mixture of PCL and a fluorescence labelled PCL showed that PCL was undergoing ester interchange reactions, which could explain its thermal stability.
PLGA was established successfully as material for MEW. GPC results revealed that PLGA degraded heavily in the one-hour preheating period. To reduce the processing temperature, ATEC was blended with PLGA in three mixtures. This slowed down degradation and a processing window of 6 h could be established. Mechanical testing with fibers produced with PLGA and all three blends was performed. PLGA was very brittle, whereas the blends showed an elastic behavior. This could be explained by ester interchange reactions that formed a loosely crosslinked network with ATEC.
The Multiweek Thermal Stability of Medical-Grade Poly(ε-caprolactone) During Melt Electrowriting
(2022)
Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a high-resolution additive manufacturing technology that places unique constraints on the processing of thermally degradable polymers. With a single nozzle, MEW operates at low throughput and in this study, medical-grade poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is heated for 25 d at three different temperatures (75, 85, and 95 °C), collecting daily samples. There is an initial increase in the fiber diameter and decrease in the jet speed over the first 5 d, then the MEW process remains stable for the 75 and 85 °C groups. When the collector speed is fixed to a value at least 10% above the jet speed, the diameter remains constant for 25 d at 75 °C and only increases with time for 85 and 95 °C. Fiber fusion at increased layer height is observed for 85 and 95 °C, while the surface morphology of single fibers remain similar for all temperatures. The properties of the prints are assessed with no observable changes in the degree of crystallinity or the Young's modulus, while the yield strength decreases in later phases only for 95 °C. After the initial 5-d period, the MEW processing of PCL at 75 °C is extraordinarily stable with overall fiber diameters averaging 13.5 ± 1.0 µm over the entire 25-d period.
Polymers sensitive to thermal degradation include poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), which is not yet processed via melt electrowriting (MEW). After an initial period of instability where mean fiber diameters increase from 20.56 to 27.37 µm in 3.5 h, processing stabilizes through to 24 h. The jet speed, determined using critical translation speed measurements, also reduces slightly in this 3.5 h period from 500 to 433 mm min\(^{−1}\) but generally remains constant. Acetyl triethyl citrate (ATEC) as an additive decreases the glass transition temperature of PLGA from 49 to 4 °C, and the printed ATEC/PLGA fibers exhibits elastomeric behavior upon handling. Fiber bundles tested in cyclic mechanical testing display increased elasticity with increasing ATEC concentration. The processing temperature of PLGA also reduces from 165 to 143 °C with increase in ATEC concentration. This initial window of unstable direct writing seen with neat PLGA can also be impacted through the addition of 10-wt% ATEC, producing fiber diameters of 14.13 ± 1.69 µm for the first 3.5 h of heating. The investigation shows that the initial changes to the PLGA direct-writing outcomes seen in the first 3.5 h are temporary and that longer times result in a more stable MEW process.
Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die Modifizierung von porösem, calciumdefizitärem, nanokristallinem Hydroxylapatit mit verschiedenen Metallionen zu testen. Es wurden α‑TCP‑basierende Zementproben hergestellt, die durch zwei verschiedene Dotierungsmethoden mit bestimmten Metallionen (Cu2+, Co2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, V3+, Zn2+) modifiziert wurden. Die eine Methode bestand in der Zusinterung der entsprechenden Metallionen zum α‑TCP‑Pulver. Bei der anderen Methode waren die Ionen in unterschiedlicher Konzentration (1 mmolar, 100 μmolar, 10 μmolar) in der Binderlösung enthalten. Die hergestellten Zementproben wurden hinsichtlich bestimmter Eigenschaften wie der initialen Abbindezeit und Druckfestigkeit untersucht und zusätzlich rasterelektronenmikroskopischen, röntgen-diffraktometrischen und massenspektrometrischen Analysen unterzogen. Als Referenz diente ein bereits am Menschen erfolgreich als Knochenersatzmaterial eingesetzter nanokristalliner, calciumarmer Hydroxylapatit-Zement. Da Hydroxylapatit nahezu nur durch Osteoklasten mittels einer lokalen pH‑Wert-Absenkung resorbiert werden kann, wurden in‑vitro‑Versuche mit einer immortalisierten Makrophagen-Zelllinie durchgeführt. Über einen 15‑tägigen Versuchszeitraum wurde die Zytokompatibilität mittels bestimmter Zellproliferations- und Zellaktivitätsmessungen überprüft. Zusätzlich wurden die mit Zellen besiedelten Proben unter dem Rasterelektronenmikroskop betrachtet und eine TRAP‑Färbung durchgeführt, um die Differenzierung zu osteoklastenähnlichen Zellen beurteilen zu können.
Bei der Auswertung der Versuche wurde deutlich, dass nicht das Metall alleine maßgeblich für Veränderungen der physikalischen Eigenschaften im Vergleich zum metallfreien Referenzzement war. Auch die Art der Metallionendotierung, ob durch Zugabe mit der Binderlösung oder durch Zusinterung, hatte bei den Metallen unterschiedliche Auswirkungen auf die Zementeigenschaften. Während der Versuche wurden Abbindezeiten von 18 Minuten bis über 60 Minuten gemessen und Druckfestigkeiten zwischen 9,3 MPa und 30,5 MPa festgestellt. Bei der Auswertung der Zellversuchsreihe wurde festgestellt, dass die Zellen auf den mit Metallionen modifizierten Zementplättchen tendenziell eine niedrigere Aktivität bei gleich bleibender Proliferation aufwiesen als auf den metallfreien Referenzproben. Dieses Ergebnis konnte mikroskopisch bestätigt werden.
In kürzlich erschienenen Studien hat sich die Zementformulierung Baghdadit (Ca3ZrSi2O9) durch Eigenschaften wie eine hydraulische Aktivität, Röntgenopazität und bioaktive Wirkung als potenzielles Material für die endodontische Anwendung qualifiziert. Ziel dieser Studie war es, Baghdadit als einphasigen Biozement und in Form verschiedener Materialzusammensetzungen auf vorteilhafte Eigenschaften im Hinblick auf die Anwendung als endodontischen Funktionswerkstoff zu untersuchen. Nach eigenständiger Herstellung des mechanisch aktivierten Zementpulvers Ca3ZrSi2O9, erfolgte die Charakterisierung der verschiedenen Zementformulierungen maBag, Bag100Bru und Bag50Bru hinsichtlich der Injizierbarkeit, des pH-Verlaufs während der Abbindung, der Druckfestigkeit und Phasenzusammensetzung mittels XRD. Daneben wurde Baghdadit zu je drei verschiedenen Gewichtsanteilen als Füllstoff in eine Methacrylat-basierte Matrix integriert und hinsichtlich der Fließfähigkeit entsprechend der Norm DIN EN ISO 6876:2012, des qualitativen Polymerisationsgrads und der Druckfestigkeit geprüft. Mit einer Auswahl der oben genannten Materialien erfolgte die Untersuchung der antibakteriellen Wirksamkeit, der Röntgensichtbarkeit orientierend an der Norm DIN EN ISO 13116:2014 und der Dichtigkeit im Wurzelkanal.