Abstract
Polymeric biomaterials based on polyurethane and polylactide blends are promising candidates for regenerative medicine applications as biocompatible, bioresorbable carriers. In current research we showed that 80/20 polyurethane/polylactide blends (PU/PLDL) with confirmed biological properties in vitro may be further improved by the addition of ZnO nanoparticles for the delivery of bioactive zinc oxide for cells. The PU/PLDL blends were doped with different concentrations of ZnO (0.001%, 0.01%, 0.05%) and undertaken for in vitro biological evaluation using human adipose stromal stem cells (ASCs) and olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). The addition of 0.001% of ZnO to the biomaterials positively influenced the morphology, proliferation, and phenotype of cells cultured on the scaffolds. Moreover, the analysis of oxidative stress markers revealed that 0.001% of ZnO added to the material decreased the stress level in both cell lines. In addition, the levels of neural-specific genes were upregulated in OECs when cultured on sample 0.001 ZnO, while the apoptosis-related genes were downregulated in OECs and ASCs in the same group. Therefore, we showed that PU/PLDL blends doped with 0.001% of ZnO exert beneficial influence on ASCs and OECs in vitro and they may be considered for future applications in the field of regenerative medicine.
Highlights
The limited regenerative ability of injured central nervous system (CNS), including its mechanical and neurodegenerative failures, becomes a real challenge for advanced regenerative medicine [1].Various strategies has been proposed to support regeneration of spinal cord, application of a specific biomaterial combined with living cells seems to be the most promising [2,3]
We showed that polyurethane/polylactide blends (PU/PLDL) based biomaterials can be satisfactorily used for scaffold fabrication for both rat olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) as well as rat adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal stem cells (ASCs)
Our results indicated that the lowest concentration of ZnO reduced the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NO, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in both tested cell populations
Summary
Various strategies has been proposed to support regeneration of spinal cord, application of a specific biomaterial combined with living cells seems to be the most promising [2,3]. Polymer biomaterials are widely used in manufacturing of modern biomedical devices and/or implants. They seem highly acceptable and promising for spinal cord injuries (SCI) treatment, mostly because of their low immunogenicity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility [6]. The blends of the above mentioned polymers i.e., PU/PLDL have been shown to possess improved mechanical properties and being more promising materials from a surgical perspective, and for culture and delivery of regenerative cell populations [9,10]
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