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A wound dressing which can be convenient for real-time monitoring of wounds is particularly attractive and user-friendly. In this study, a nature-originated silk-sericin-based (SS-based) transparent hydrogel scaffold was prepared and evaluated for the visualization of wound care. The scaffold was fabricated from a hybrid interpenetrating-network (IPN) hydrogel composed of SS and methacrylic-anhydride-modified gelatin (GelMA) by 3D printing. The scaffold transformed into a highly transparent hydrogel upon swelling in PBS, and thus, anything underneath could be easily read. The scaffold had a high degree of swelling and presented a regularly macroporous structure with pores around 400 μm × 400 μm, which can help maintain the moist and apinoid environment for wound healing. Meanwhile, the scaffolds were conducive to adhesion and proliferation of L929 cells. A coculture of HaCaT and HSF cells on the scaffold showed centralized proliferation of the two cells in distributed layers, respectively, denoting a promising comfortable environment for re-epithelialization. Moreover, in vivo studies demonstrated that the scaffold showed no excessive inflammatory reaction. In short, this work presented an SS-based transparent hydrogel scaffold with steerable physical properties and excellent biocompatibility through 3D printing, pioneering promising applications in the visualization of wound care and drug delivery.

During the life time of a cell, it goes through changes to the plasma membrane as well as its internal structures especially distinctive during processes like cell division and death. Different types of microscope are used to fulfill the observation of the cell's variation. In our experiment, Vero cells have been investigated by using phase contrast microscopy and digital holographic microscopy (DHM). A comparison of the images obtained for cell division is presented here. The conventional phase contrast microscope provided a good imaging method in the real time analysis of cell division. The off-axis digital hologram recorded by the DHM system can be reconstructed to obtain both the intensity image and phase contrast image of the test object. These can be used for live cell imaging to provide multiple results from a single equipment setup. The DHM system, besides being a qualitative tool, is able to provide quantitative results and 3D images of the cell division process. The ability of DHM to provide quantitative analysis makes it an ideal tool for life science applications.

In the cell microenvironment, cells experience simultaneously a range of chemical, topographical and biological signals. Therefore, it is important to create model surface that allow for examining the combined effect of these signals. In this study, we fabricated surface nanotopography gradients via surface immobilization of gold nanoparticles in a number density manner, thereafter, we tailored the outermost surface chemistry through deposition of a very thin plasma polymerized film with certain chemical composition (allylamine or acrylic acid)over the surface bound nanoparticles. The co-effect of surface topography and surface chemistry on osteoblast like SaOS-2 cells adhesion, spreading and differentiation was studied in vitro. The surface nanotopography was found to have more dominant effect on initial cell adhesion and spreading than the outermost surface chemistry employed in this study. However, we also found that surface topography and surface chemistry synergistically regulated osteogenic differentiation. This study illustrates the use of plasma polymerization as a tool to generate unique models surfaces that allow for examining the co-effect on surface nanotopography and chemistry on cell behaviors. Furthermore, this study also provides reference for the utility of plasma polymerization as a method of surface modification for bone tissue engineering scaffolds and/or orthopedic implants. Refereed/Peer-reviewed