Pesqueira Tamagno, Costa-Almeida Raquel, Mithieux Suzanne M, Babo Pedro S, Franco Albina R, Mendes Bárbara B, Domingues Rui M A, Freitas Paulo, Reis Rui L, Gomes Manuela E, Weiss Anthony S
3B's Research Group - Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark - Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, Barco, 4805-017, Guimarães, Portugal.
J Mater Chem B. 2018 Feb 21;6(7):1066-1075. doi: 10.1039/c7tb02035j. Epub 2018 Feb 2.
Magnetic biomaterials are a key focus in medical research. Tropoelastin is the soluble precursor of elastin and is a critical component of tissues requiring elasticity as part of their physiological function. By utilising the versatility of tropoelastin and the ability to tailor its properties, we developed a novel magnetic spongy-like hydrogel based on tropoelastin doped with magnetic properties by in situ precipitation method. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles altered the secondary structure of tropoelastin. Bioengineered tropoelastin-based magnetic spongy-like hydrogels displayed a homogenous distribution of magnetic nanoparticles throughout the tropoelastin network and quick magnetic responsiveness to an applied external magnetic field. Morphologically, in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles, hydrated tropoelastin spongy-like hydrogels showed apparently smaller pore sizes and less swelling. Furthermore, in vitro biological studies using human tendon-derived cells revealed that magnetically responsive tropoelastin spongy-like hydrogels supported cell viability and enabled cell adhesion, spreading and migration into the interior of the spongy-like hydrogel up to two weeks. The bioengineered tropoelastin-based magnetic spongy-like hydrogel represents a novel class of hybrid biomaterial that can serve as a platform for soft tissue regeneration.
磁性生物材料是医学研究的一个关键重点。原弹性蛋白是弹性蛋白的可溶性前体，是需要弹性作为其生理功能一部分的组织的关键组成部分。通过利用原弹性蛋白的多功能性及其性能定制能力，我们采用原位沉淀法开发了一种基于掺杂磁性的原弹性蛋白的新型磁性海绵状水凝胶。磁性纳米颗粒的存在改变了原弹性蛋白的二级结构。生物工程化的基于原弹性蛋白的磁性海绵状水凝胶在整个原弹性蛋白网络中显示出磁性纳米颗粒的均匀分布，并对施加的外部磁场具有快速磁响应性。从形态学上看，在存在磁性纳米颗粒的情况下，水合的原弹性蛋白海绵状水凝胶显示出明显更小的孔径和更少的肿胀。此外，使用人肌腱衍生细胞进行的体外生物学研究表明，具有磁响应性 的原弹性蛋白海绵状水凝胶支持细胞活力，并使细胞能够粘附、铺展并迁移到海绵状水凝胶内部长达两周。生物工程化的基于原弹性蛋白的磁性海绵状水凝胶代表了一类新型的混合生物材料，可作为软组织再生的平台。
