• Engineering researchers develop porous n

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 22:30:46
    Engineering researchers develop porous nanoparticles for regenerative
    medicine

    Date:
    March 30, 2022
    Source:
    Texas A&M University
    Summary:
    Stem cells can develop into many different types of cells in
    the body.

    For instance, when a person is injured, stem cells come to the site
    of the injury and aid in healing damaged tissues. New nanotechnology
    could leverage the body's regenerative potential by directing stem
    cells to form bone tissue.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    Stem cells can develop into many different types of cells in the body. For instance, when a person is injured, stem cells come to the site of the
    injury and aid in healing damaged tissues. New nanotechnology developed
    by a team of researchers from Texas A&M University could leverage the
    body's regenerative potential by directing stem cells to form bone tissue.


    ========================================================================== Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, associate professor and Presidential Impact
    Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a fellow of the
    American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, leads the
    team. The researchers have developed water-stable, 2D covalent organic framework (COF) nanoparticles that can direct the differentiation of
    human mesenchymal stem cells into bone cells.

    Significant research attention has been given to 2D COFs -- porous
    organic polymers -- due to their crystallinity, ordered and tunable
    porous structure, and high specific surface area. However, the difficulty
    of processing COFs into nanosized materials -- along with their poor
    stability -- has limited their application in regenerative medicine and
    drug delivery. There is a need for new approaches that provide these
    COFs with sufficient physiological stability while maintaining their biocompatibility.

    Gaharwar's team has enhanced the hydrolytic (water) stability of COFs
    by integrating them with amphiphilic polymers, which are macromolecules
    that contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components. This approach,
    which has not been reported previously, gives water dispersibility to
    COFs, enabling biomedical application of these nanoparticles.

    "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating
    the ability of COFs to direct stem cells toward bone tissue," Gaharwar
    said. "This new technology has the potential to impact the treatment of
    bone regeneration." The researchers found that 2D COFs do not affect a
    cell's viability and proliferation, even at higher concentrations. They observed that these 2D COFs exhibit bioactivity and direct stem cells
    towards bone cells. The preliminary study indicated that the shape and
    size of these nanoparticles can impart this bioactivity, and additional in-depth studies need to be carried out for mechanistic insights.

    These nanoparticles are highly porous, and Gaharwar's team has leveraged
    this unique characteristic for drug delivery. They were able to load an
    osteo- inducing drug called dexamethasone into the porous structure of
    the COF to further enhance bone formation.

    "These nanoparticles could prolong delivery of drugs to human mesenchymal
    stem cells, which are commonly used in bone regeneration," said Sukanya
    Bhunia, senior author of the study and postdoc associate in the biomedical engineering department. "The sustained delivery of the drug resulted
    in enhanced stem cell differentiation toward bone lineage, and this
    technique can be used for bone regeneration." Gaharwar noted that,
    having provided a proof-of-concept, the team's next step in its research
    will be to evaluate this nanotechnology in a diseased model.

    These findings are important for the future design of biomaterials
    that can give directions for tissue regeneration and drug delivery applications.

    The results were published in Advanced Healthcare Materials journal. Other research contributors are Manish Jaiswal, Kanwar Abhay Singh and
    Kaivalya Deo from the biomedical engineering department at Texas A&M. The research was supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging
    and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Texas_A&M_University. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Sukanya Bhunia, Manish K. Jaiswal, Kanwar Abhay Singh, Kaivalya
    A. Deo,
    Akhilesh K. Gaharwar. 2D Covalent Organic Framework Direct
    Osteogenic Differentiation of Stem Cells. Advanced Healthcare
    Materials, 2022; 2101737 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202101737 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220330121412.htm

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