Search for: All records

The nanostructure of engineered bioscaffolds has a profound impact on cell response, yet its understanding remains incomplete as cells interact with a highly complex interfacial layer rather than the material itself. For bioactive glass scaffolds, this layer comprises of silica gel, hydroxyapatite (HA)/carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA), and absorbed proteins—all in varying micro/nano structure, composition, and concentration. Here, we examined the response of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells to 30 mol% CaO–70 mol% SiO₂porous bioactive glass monoliths that differed only in nanopore size (6–44 nm) yet resulted in the formation of HA/CHA layers with significantly different microstructures. We report that cell response, as quantified by cell attachment and morphology, does not correlate with nanopore size, nor HA/CHO layer micro/nano morphology, or absorbed protein amount (bovine serum albumin, BSA), but with BSA’s secondary conformation as indicated by its β-sheet/α-helix ratio. Our results suggest that the β-sheet structure in BSA interacts electrostatically with the HA/CHA interfacial layer and activates the RGD sequence of absorbed adhesion proteins, such as fibronectin and vitronectin, thus significantly enhancing the attachment of cells. These findings provide new insight into the interaction of cells with the scaffolds’ interfacial layer, which is vital for the continued development of engineered tissue scaffolds.

According to Joule’s well-known first law, application of electric field across a homogeneous solid should produce heat uniformly in proportion to the square of electrical current. Here we report strong departure from this expectation for common, homogeneous ionic solids such as alkali silicate glasses when subjected even to moderate fields (~100 V/cm). Unlike electronically conducting metals and semiconductors, with time the heating of ionically conducting glass becomes extremely inhomogeneous with the formation of a nanoscale alkali-depletion region, such that the glass melts near the anode, even evaporates, while remaining solid elsewhere.In situinfrared imaging shows and finite element analysis confirms localized temperatures more than thousand degrees above the remaining sample depending on whether the field is DC or AC. These observations unravel the origin of recently discovered electric field induced softening of glass. The observed highly inhomogeneous temperature profile point to the challenges for the application of Joule’s law to the electrical performance of glassy thin films, nanoscale devices, and similarly-scaled phenomena.