Introduction The presence of proteoglycans, glycosaminoglycans and other glycosylated molecules is responsible for the inherent non-adhesive nature of the endothelial cell glycocalyx that prevents attachment of other cells and biomolecules to the intravascular endothelial cell lining . Mimicking such a sugar-rich structure for vascular interfacial biomaterials provides a way to prevent the clin...

Synchrotron-based soft X-ray spectromicroscopy techniques are emerging as useful tools to characterize potentially biocompatible materials and to probe protein interactions with model biomaterial surfaces. Simultaneous quantitative chemical analysis of the near surface region of the candidate biomaterial, and adsorbed proteins, peptides or other biological species can be obtained at high spatia...

Infections are frequent and very undesired occurrences after orthopedic procedures; furthermore, the growing concern caused by the rise in antibiotic resistance is progressively dwindling the efficacy of such drugs. Artificial bone graft materials could solve some of the problems associated with the gold standard use of natural bone graft such as limited bone material, pain at the donor site an...

For nearly a decade, researchers have investigated the possibility of cell transplantation for cardiac repair. More recently, the emerging fields of tissue engineering and biomaterials have begun to provide potential treatments. Tissue engineering approaches are designed to repair lost or damaged tissue through the use of growth factors, cellular transplantation, and biomaterial scaffolds. Ther...

Neuroinflammation is a highly reactive response that has not been addressed due to its complexity. Some of molecular pathways, such as glycosylation, have neglected in the past. Despite intricacy and diversity glycome, there an increased interest this field study, which resulted fostering advances glycobiology glycochemistry. These supported emergence new class glyco-engineered approaches, biom...

The normal wound healing process involves a well-organized cascade of biological pathways and any failure in this process leads to wounds becoming chronic. Non-healing wounds are a burden on healthcare systems and set to increase with aging population and growing incidences of obesity and diabetes. Stem cell-based therapies have the potential to heal chronic wounds but have so far seen little s...

Dramatic advances in biological research have revealed the mechanisms underlying many diseases at the molecular level. However, conventional techniques may be inadequate for direct application of this new knowledge to medical treatments. Nanobiotechnology, which integrates biology with the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology, has great potential to overcome many technical problems and lead ...

Michael-type addition reactions offer the possibility to obtain in situ formation of polymeric hydrogels in the absence of a radical mechanism for the networking process. We explored such a synthetic route for obtaining a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based hydrogel as a potential biomaterial for applications in vitro-retinal replacement surgery. The presence of radicals in the reaction medium can ...

Generation of adaptive immune response relies on efficient drainage or trafficking of antigen to lymph nodes for processing and presentation of these foreign molecules to T and B lymphocytes. Lymph nodes have thus become critical targets for new vaccines and immunotherapies. A recent strategy for targeting these tissues is direct lymph node injection of soluble vaccine components, and clinical ...

*Medical University of Silesia, Department of Physiology, ul. Medyków 18, 40-752 Katowice Ligota, Poland Abstract Presented are the results of investigations into the preparation of a peripheral nerve prosthesis. The prosthesis is built up of a multichannel core having a diameter of 2 to 5 mm. The core prepared by freeze drying is housed in a polymeric sleeve. The prosthesis core is made of mic...