Hydroxyethyl methacrylate grafted carboxy methyl tamarind (CMT-g-HEMA) polysaccharide based matrix as a suitable scaffold for skin tissue engineering.

Patho-physiologies related to skin are diverse in nature such as burns, skin ulcers, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis etc. which impose severe bio-medical problems and thus enforce requirement of new and healthy skin prepared through tissues engineering methodologies. However, fully functional and biodegradable matrix for attachment, growth, proliferation and differentiation of the relevant cells is not available. In the present study, we introduce a set of hydrogels synthesized by incorporation of a synthetic monomer (Hydroxyethlmethacryate) with a semi-synthetic polymer backbone (carboxy methyl tamarind, CMT) in different mole ratios. We termed these materials as CMT:HEMA based hydrogels and these were characterized by different physico-chemical techniques, namely by X-Ray Diffraction, SEM and Dynamic Light Scattering. Biocompatibility studies with HaCaT, NIH-3T3 and mouse dermal fibroblasts confirm that this material is biocompatible. MTT assay further confirmed that this material does not have any cytotoxic effects. Assays for mitochondrial functionality such as ATP assay and mitochondrial reactive oxygen (ROS) generation also suggest that this material is safe and does not have any cytotoxicity. Hemolytic assay with red blood cells and acute skin irritation test on SD Rats confirmed that this material is suitable for ex-vivo application in future. We suggest that this hydrogel is suitable for in-vivo applications and may have clinical and commercial importance against skin disorders.

Acrylic acid grafted tamarind kernel polysaccharide-based hydrogel for bone tissue engineering in absence of any osteo-inducing factors.

PURPOSE: With increased life expectancy, disorders in lifestyle and other clinical conditions, and the changes in the connective tissues such as in bone, impose diverse biomedical problems. Cells belong to osteogenic lineages are extremely specific for their surface requirements. Therefore, suitable surfaces are the critical bottle neck for successful bone tissue engineering. This study involves assessment of polysaccharide-based hydrogel which effectively allows growth, differentiation and mineralisation of osteogenic cells even in the absence of osteogenic inducing factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tamarind Kernel Polysaccharide was grafted with acrylic acid at different mole ratio. The critical parameter, surface morphology for bio application was assessed by SEM. MTT assay has been performed with hydrogels on Saos-2 cells. The biocompatibility and adhesion of different cell lines (F-11, Saos-2, Raw 264.7 and MSCs) on hydrogel surface was performed by Phalloidin and DAPI staining. Further the differentiation, mineralization and expression of different osteogenic markers, ALP assay, Alizarin Red staining and q-PCR was performed. RESULTS: The hydrogels show highly porous and interconnected pores. MTT assay demonstrates the hydrogel have no cytotoxicity towards Saos-2 cells and are suitable for proliferation of different lineage of cell lines. ALP, Alizarin red staining and q-PCR assay shows that the hydrogel surface enhances the differentiation, mineralization and expression of different osteogenic genes in Saos-2 cells in the absence of any osteogenic inducing factors. Conclusion Synthesized hydrogel surface triggers signalling events towards osteogenesis even in the absence of added growth factors. We proposed that this material can be used for effective bone tissue engineering in vitro at low cost.

A Modified Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogel for Enhanced Osteogenic Maturation and Mineralization Independent of Differentiation Factors.

Bone related problems are increasing as a consequence of increased life expectancy, disorders in life style, and other medical conditions enforcing the need for functional bones prepared in vitro at affordable cost. Lack of suitable surface which promotes growth of both osteogenic and nonosteogenic cells is a major limitation. Here a novel biomaterial is reported that is synthesized from natural polysaccharide, namely, tamarind kernel polysaccharide (TKP), which is grafted with hydrophilic acrylic acid (AA) by radical polymerization. Modification in surface functionality removes unwanted proteins and alters hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance. TKP-AA is suitable for the growth of different nonosteogenic and osteogenic cells. This material is suitable for osteoblasts and promotes in vitro mineralization and differentiation without the addition of exogenous growth factors. TKP-AA can be used for the growth of mesenchymal stem cell-derived osteoblasts. It is suggested that TKP-AA can potentially be used as a scaffold for diverse cell types and particularly for bone tissue engineering at low cost.

Polysaccharide-capped silver Nanoparticles inhibit biofilm formation and eliminate multi-drug-resistant bacteria by disrupting bacterial cytoskeleton with reduced cytotoxicity towards mammalian cells.

Development of effective anti-microbial therapeutics has been hindered by the emergence of bacterial strains with multi-drug resistance and biofilm formation capabilities. In this article, we report an efficient green synthesis of silver nanoparticle (AgNP) by in situ reduction and capping with a semi-synthetic polysaccharide-based biopolymer (carboxymethyl tamarind polysaccharide). The CMT-capped AgNPs were characterized by UV, DLS, FE-SEM, EDX and HR-TEM. These AgNPs have average particle size of ~20-40 nm, and show long time stability, indicated by their unchanged SPR and Zeta-potential values. These AgNPs inhibit growth and biofilm formation of both Gram positive (B. subtilis) and Gram negative (E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium) bacterial strains even at concentrations much lower than the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) breakpoints of antibiotics, but show reduced or no cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. These AgNPs alter expression and positioning of bacterial cytoskeletal proteins FtsZ and FtsA. CMT-capped AgNPs can effectively block growth of several clinical isolates and MDR strains representing different genera and resistant towards multiple antibiotics belonging to different classes. We propose that the CMT-capped AgNPs can have potential bio-medical application against multi-drug-resistant microbes with minimal cytotoxicity towards mammalian cells.

A carboxy methyl tamarind polysaccharide matrix for adhesion and growth of osteoclast-precursor cells.

Remodeling of bone by tissue engineering is a realistic option for treating several bone-related pathophysiological ailments such as osteoporosis, bone tumor, bone cancer or abnormal bone development. But, these possibilities are hindered due to lack of proper natural and biodegradable surface on which bone precursor cells can adhere efficiently and grow further. Here we describe the synthesis and characterization of a new hydrogel as an effective surface which can acts as a material for bone tissue engineering. This hydrogel has been prepared by chemically grafting a semi-synthetic polymer with a synthetic monomer, namely hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). Carboxy methyl tamarind (CMT) was selected as the semi-synthetic polymer. The hydrogel was prepared at different mole ratios and at the ratio of 1:10 (CMT:HEMA) yielded the best hydrogel as characterized by several physico-chemical analysis such as UV spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and swelling properties. We further demonstrate that this material is suitable for effective adhesion, growth and further clustering of bone precursor cells (RAW 264.7). This material is also compatible for growing other sensitive cells such as neuronal cells (Neuro2a) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) demonstrating that this surface does not possess any cytotoxicity and is compatible for primary human cells too. We conclude that the hydrogel made of CMT:HEMA at a ratio of 1:10 can be suitable for bone tissue engineering and thus may have clinical as well as commercial application in future.

Synthesis, structure and application of chiral copper(II) coordination polymers for asymmetric acylation.

Chiral copper(II) coordination polymers 1a-c have been prepared by one-pot synthesis in high yield. Their single-crystal X-ray analysis showed that repeating units are connected to each other by carboxylate linker and copper(II) atoms are pentacoordinated with distorted square-pyramidal geometry for 1a-b and square-planar geometry for 1c. These polymers have catalyzed the kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols by acylation with up to 90% ee ( s = 50).