Dr. Rajendra Kumar Singh, Dr. Dong Suk Yoon and Dr. Nandin Mandakbayar at ITREN developed ROS-responsive nanoceria decorated scaffold based on 3D printing for hastening regeneration of critical sized bone defects in diabetic animals. The study recently got published in journal Biomaterials (IF:15.304) under the title “Diabetic bone regeneration with nanoceria-tailored scaffolds by recapitulating cellular microenvironment: Activating integrin/TGF-β co-signaling of MSCs while relieving oxidative stress. (Read the article online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2022.121732).

Regenerating defective bones in diabetic patients is of boundless clinical importance. The elevated blood glucose levels and oxidative stress in defected bones hinders the neo bone regeneration process and hence developing a therapeutic biomaterial that modulates oxidative stress while supporting osteogenesis is of great interest. This motivated Dr. Rajendra Kumar Singh, Dr. Dong Suk Yoon and Dr. Nandin Mandakbayar to challenge the problem by fabricating nanoceria decorated 3D-printed PCL scaffolds as a biomaterial for bone therapeutics. The entire study was conducted under the guidance of Prof. Hae-Won Kim and Prof. Jung-Hwan Lee here at ITREN. The excellent ROS-responsiveness and the nano-topological cues provided by scaffolds directed MSCS to express higher levels of focal adhesion proteins, curvature-sensing membrane proteins and significantly higher levels of osteogenic differentiation through integrin-mediated TGF-β co-signaling activation pathway. Such regulatory effects in MSC were further proven invivo by implantation in critical-sized bone defects of diabetic animals. Together all, the studies revealed that the currently exploited nCe-scaffolds can be a promising drug- and cell-free therapeutic means to treat defective tissues like bone in diabetic conditions.

Dr. Suk-Min Hong, Dr. Ji-Young Yoon, and Dr. Jae-Ryung Cha at ITREN developed polycaprolactone-based polyurethane (PCL-PU) copolymers with excellent shape-memory, hyper-elasticity, and ultra-cell-adhesion properties intended for various tissue regeneration applications. The study recently got published in journal Bioengineering &Translational medicine (IF: 10.684) under the title “Hyperelastic, shape-memorable, and ultra-cell-adhesive degradable polycaprolactone-polyurethane copolymer for tissue regeneration” (Read the article online: https://doi.org/10.1002/btm2.10332).

The PCL-PU biomaterial developed have shown prominent mechanical properties (~ 50 MPa tensile strength and ~ 1150% elongation with hyper-elasticity under cyclic load). The shape-memory features were also proved in film, thread, and 3D scaffold forms. With extensive invitro experiments, authors revealed the ultra-cell-adhesive properties and tissue regenerative potential by performing differentiation towards myogenic and osteogenic lineages. Furthermore, tissue compatibility, immune responses, and regenerative potential was investigated in-vivo. This study suggests the multifunctional roles of PCL-PU as a therapeutic biomaterial exclusively for minimally invasive surgeries that demands minor skin openings to target large defects along with promoting excellent tissue regeneration.