Incomplete clearance of apoptotic cells and reactive oxygen species (ROS) release are known to trigger inflammasome activation causing severe inflammation in acute lung injury and various metabolic and autoimmune diseases. Moreover, it has been reported that apoptotic cell clearance and ROS-mediated apoptosis critically depend on mitochondrial uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2). However, the relations...

Decellularized xenogeneic whole-liver matrices are plausible biomedical materials for the bioengineering of liver transplantation. A common method to reduce the inflammatory potential of xenogeneic matrices is crosslinking. Nevertheless, a comprehensive analysis of the immunogenic features of cross-linked decellularized tissue is still lacking. We aimed to reduce the immunogenicity of decellula...

Central Nervous System (CNS) repair has been a challenge, due to limited CNS tissue regenerative capacity. The emerging tools that neural engineering has to offer have opened new pathways towards the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches for CNS disorders. Collagen has been a preferable material for neural tissue engineering due to its similarity to the extracellular matrix, its biocompatib...

Degenerative disc disease has been implicated as a major component of spine pathology. However, although biological repair of the degenerate disk would be the ideal treatment, there is no universally accepted scaffold for tissue engineering of the intervertebral disk. To help remedy this, we investigated the gelation kinetics of various concentrations (2.5 to 10%) of two water-soluble chitosan ...

This paper demonstrates a proof-of-concept approach for producing genipin-gelatin microcapsules of precisely controlled and monodisperse size distributions by the microfluidic channels. We have demonstrated that one could control the size of emulsions from 130 microm to 580 microm in diameter (with a variation of less than 5%) by altering the relative sheath/sample flow rate ratio. In addition,...

Collagen crosslink plays a major role in regulating the mechanical performance of load-supporting tissues. The human intervertebral discs have higher concentration of mature crosslinks than any other tissues which signals demanding mechanical requirements. In vitro, genipin, an exogenous crosslink, can increase spinal motion segment stability, improve mechanical properties of annulus fibrosus, ...

Hydrogels are extensively studied as carrier matrices for the controlled release of bioactive molecules. The aim of this study was to design gelatin-based hydrogels crosslinked with genipin and study the impact of crosslinking temperature (5, 15 or 25°C) on gel strength, microstructure, cytocompatibility, swelling and drug release. Gels crosslinked at 25°C exhibited the highest Flory-Rehner cro...

The positive interaction between polysaccharides with active phytochemicals found in medicinal plants may represent a strategy to create active wound dressing materials useful for skin repair. In the present work, blended membranes composed of chitosan (Cht) and aloe vera gel were prepared through the solvent casting, and were crosslinked with genipin to improve their properties. Topography, sw...

Crosslinked chitosan-based nanofilms (thickness approximately 40 nm) were prepared using a naturally occurring and nontoxic reagent, genipin, the surface properties studied as function of crosslinking degree pH, by combining three techniques: dynamic contact angle sessile drops, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed pH-response th...