Biomimetic Materials

Engineered Three-Dimensional Microenvironments with Starch Nanocrystals as Cell-Instructive Materials

“…In natural tissues, cells reside in a highly sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment consisting of nano- and microscale topographical structures that play a key role in cellular processes such as differentiation, migration, and proliferation. , As cells contain nanoscale features such as focal adhesion complexes and fine processes (e.g., cilia and filopodia), they can sense and respond to physical cues as small as approximately 10 nm. , A number of studies have investigated the influence of nanotopographical cues on the behavior of cells and have shown that cell morphology, adhesion, alignment, and proliferation depend strongly on the cell type and the dimensions of the physical cues. − For example, engineered topographical gradients of nanoparticles with three different average diameters (16, 38, and 68 nm) have been used to study the response of fibroblasts and osteoblasts. Interestingly, features of 16 nm promoted the adhesion of both cell types, whereas only fibroblasts adhered on the nanotopography of 38 nm.…”

In Vitro Screening of Molecularly Engineered Polyethylene Glycol Hydrogels for Cartilage Tissue Engineering using Periosteum-Derived and ATDC5 Cells

“…An ideal biomaterial based scaffold should be temporary in nature and should support the initial stages of de novo tissue formation. One approach in scaffold design is to imitate aspects of the biological tissue to be regenerated, for example by trying to replicate the local extracellular matrix (ECM) [ 2 ]. The ECM is a sophisticated network of proteins and polysaccharides in the interstitial space that provides structure to the tissue; supports cell signaling; and influences the transport, sequestration, and presentation of biochemical cues such as growth factors.…”