Implication of silk film RGD availability and surface roughness on cytoskeletal organization and proliferation of primary rat bone marrow cells.

To design and fabricate next-generation tissue engineering materials, the understanding of cell responses to material surfaces is required. Surface topography presents powerful cues for cells and can strongly influence cell morphology, adhesion, and proliferation, but the mechanisms mediating this cell response remain unclear. In this report, we have investigated the effects of nanoroughness assemblies of silk fibroin protein membranes and RGD sequences fabricated from two different silk fibroin sources, that is, mulberry (Bombyx mori) and nonmulberry (Antheraea mylitta), on cytoskeletal organization, proliferation, and viability using primary rat bone marrow cells. To vary surface roughness, silk fibroin substrates were treated with graded ethanol (50%-100% v/v) to produce nanoarchitectures in the range of 1-12 nm height. The graded alcohol treatments have been found to produce nanoscale topographies of reproducible height in a much faster and cheaper way. The results showed no difference in cell proliferation within the same treatment groups for both silk types. However, a change in cell response in terms of good cytoskeleton organization, actin development, cell spreading, and strong binding to substratum using A. mylitta fibroin protein films having RGD sequences was observed. This finding provides the information that the nanoroughness affects cellular processes in a cell-specific manner and may be helpful for the development of smart silk-based biomaterials especially for directing cell differentiation and regenerative therapies.

Manufacturing of biodrugs: need for harmonization in regulatory standards.

Biodrugs (biologics) are much more complex than chemically synthesized drugs because of their structural heterogeneity and interactions within a given biologic system. The manufacturing process in the biodrug industry varies with each type of molecule and is far more elaborate and stringent due to the use of living organisms and complex substrates. Product purity and altered structural characteristics leading to potential immunogenicity have often been of concern when establishing quality and safety in the use of biodrugs. Regulatory compliance in manufacturing and commercialization of biodrugs involves quality control, quality assurance, and batch documentation. Many factors such as host cell development, cell bank establishment, cell culture, protein production, purification, analysis, formulation, storage, and handling are critical for ensuring the purity, activity, and safety of the finished product. Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for biodrugs has been developed in certain regions such as the EU, US, and Japan. Due to differences in manufacturing methods and systems, product-specific GMP guidelines are evolving. In general, there are variations in GMP guidelines between countries, which lead to difficulty for the manufacturers in conforming to different standards, thus entailing delays in the commercialization of biodrugs. There is a need to develop a unified regulatory guideline for biodrug manufacturing across various countries, which would be helpful in the marketing of products and trade. This review deals with the comparative framework and analysis of GMP regulation of biodrugs.