We developed a novel method to obtain designed shape cell sheets for tissue engineering. Shaping of cell sheets were achieved by the use of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) and poly(N,N'-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAAm) for temperature-responsive cell adhesive and cell nonadhesive domains, respectively. These polymers were covalently grafted onto tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) dish surfaces by electron beam irradiation with mask patterns. At 37 degrees C, human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) attached, spread, and proliferated to make a monolayer only on PIPAAm-grafted domains. HAECs did not adhere on PDMAAm-grafted domains for more than 1 month even under the serum-supplemented condition. By reducing the culture temperature below 32 degrees C, PIPAAm changed to hydrophilic and HAEC sheets were detached from PIPAAm-grafted surfaces without any need of an enzyme such as trypsin. Cell-cell junctions were retained in the recovered cell sheets and easily moved to virgin TCPS dishes with the aid of hydrophilically modified polyvinylidenefluoride membranes as a supporter during the transfer. Moved cell sheets rapidly adhered onto the dish surfaces, and the supporter was easily peeled off from the cell layers. HAEC sheets transferred to new dishes revealed the identical shape and size to those before transfer. This novel technique is the only way to create, harvest, and transfer designed shape cell sheets and would have promising applications in tissue engineering.

A silk nanofiber‐networked bio‐triboelectric generator (Silk Bio‐TEG) is developed using an eco‐friendly and sustainable silk biomaterial with strong hydrogen bonding between peptide blocks. The electrospun Silk Bio‐TEG shows highly durable and reliable energy harvesting performances due to its notably high surface‐to‐volume ratio, mechanically super‐strong silk fibers, and fracture tolerant behavior of nanofiber‐networks.

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Fabrication of functional tissue constructs using sandwiched layers of cultured cells could prove to be an attractive approach to tissue engineering. Rapid detachment of cultured cell sheets is a very important recovery method that permits facile manipulation of the sheet and prevents functional damage. To accelerate the required culture substrate hydrophilic and hydrophobic structural changes in response to culture temperature alteration, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) was grafted onto porous culture membranes by electron beam irradiation. Analyses by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform IR and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis revealed that PIPAAm was successfully grafted to surfaces of porous membranes. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) results showed that PIPAAm-grafted membranes had smoother surfaces than ungrafted controls while retaining their porous structure. The mean roughness of PIPAAm-grafted and -ungrafted porous membrane surfaces determined by digital AFM autocalculation was 4.40 +/- 0.4 and 5.9 +/- 0.4 nm, respectively. Tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) dishes grafted with PIPAAm were compared with PIPAAm-grafted porous membranes in cell sheet detachment experiments. Approximately 75 min was required to completely detach cell sheets from PIPAAm-grafted TCPS surfaces compared to only 30 min to detach cell sheets from PIPAAm-grafted porous membranes. With porous membranes, the water accesses the PIPAAm-grafted surface from underneath and peripheral to the attached cell sheet, resulting in rapid hydration of grafted PIPAAm molecules and detachment of the cell sheet. With TCPS PIPAAm-grafted surfaces the water is supplied from only the periphery of a cell sheet, slowing detachment.

Purpose: An important application of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) is their use as an antimicrobial and wound dressing material. The aim of this study is to investigate the morphological dependence on the antimicrobial activity and cellular response of Ag NPs. Materials and methods: Ag NPs of various shapes were synthesized in an aqueous solution using a simple method. The morphology of the synthesized Ag NPs was observed via TEM imaging. The antimicrobial activity of the Ag NPs with different morphologies was evaluated against various microorganisms ( Escherichia coli [ E. coli ] , Staphylococcus aureus [ S. aureus ] , Pseudomonas aeruginosa [ P. aeruginosa ]). The antimicrobial activity of the Ag NPs was also examined according to the concentration in terms of the growth rate of E. coli . Results: The TEM images indicated that the Ag NPs with different morphologies (sphere, disk and triangular plate) had been successfully synthesized. The antimicrobial activity obtained from the inhibition zone was in the order of spherical Ag NPs > disk Ag NPs > triangular plate Ag NPs. In contrast, fibroblast cells grew well in all types of Ag NPs when the cell viability was evaluated via an MTT assay. An inductively coupled plasma mass assay showed that the difference in the antimicrobial activities of the Ag NPs was closely associated with the difference in the release rate of the Ag ions due to the difference in the surface area of the Ag NPs. Conclusion: The morphological dependence of the antimicrobial activity of the Ag NPs can be explained by the difference in the Ag ion release depending on the shape. Therefore, it will be possible to control the antimicrobial activity by controlling the shape and size of the Ag NPs.