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In this study, we report an industrial‐scale fabrication method of a multifunctional polymer composite as a scaffold material for bone tissue engineering. This study successfully demonstrated the potential of applying industrial polymer processing technologies to produce specially functionalized tissue engineering scaffolds. With the inclusion of a newly synthesized multifunctional additive, silver‐doped‐calcium phosphate (silver‐CaP), the composite material exhibited excellent osteogenic inducibility of human adipose‐derived stem cells (hASC) and satisfactory antibacterial efficacy against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Also, relative to previously reported methods of direct loading silver particles into polymeric materials, our composite exhibited significantly reduced silver associated cytotoxicity. The enhanced biocompatibility could be a significant advantage for materials to be used for regenerative medicine applications where clinical safety is a major consideration. The impact of different silver loading methodologies on hASC' osteogenic differentiation was also studied. Overall, the results of this study indicate a promising alternative approach to produce multifunctional scaffolds at industrial‐scale with higher throughput, lower cost, and enhanced reproducibility. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 900–910, 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we report for the first time that the primary ciliumacts as a crucial sensor for electrical field stimulation (EFS)–enhanced osteogenic response in osteoprogenitor cells. In addition, primary cilia seem to functionally modulate effects of EFS‐induced cellular calciumoscillations. Primary cilia are organelles that have recently been implicated to play a crucial sensor role for many mechanical and chemical stimuli on stem cells. Here, we investigate the role of primary cilia in EFS‐enhanced osteogenic response of human adipose‐derived stem cells (hASCs) by knocking down 2 primary cilia structural proteins, polycystin‐1 and intra flagellar protein‐88. Our results indicate that structurally integrated primary cilia are required for detection of electrical field signals in hASCs. Further more, by measuring changes of cytoplasmic calcium concentration in hASCs during EFS, our findings also suggest that primary ciliamay potentially function as a crucial calcium‐signaling nexus in hASCs during EFS.—Cai, S., Bodle, J. C., Mathieu, P. S., Amos, A., Hamouda, M., Bernacki, S., McCarty, G., Loboa, E. G. Primary cilia are sensors of electrical field stimulation to induce osteogenesis of human adipose‐derived stem cells. FASEB J. 31, 346–355 (2017) www.fasebj.org [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical ultrathin NiCo 2 O 4 nanosheeets grown on uniform hollow carbon microspheres (HC@NiCo 2 O 4 ) are designed and fabricated by a solvothermal reaction followed with an annealing process. When evaluated as an anode for lithium ion batteries, the as-prepared HC@NiCo 2 O 4 microspheres exhibit excellent electrochemical performance (a high reversible capacity of 1015 mA h g -1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g -1 and a high capacity of 805 mA h g -1 even at a high current density of 0.5 A g -1 ). By pairing with the LiCoO 2 cathode, the HC@NiCo 2 O 4 anode also manifests excellent performance in full cells. The outstanding electrochemical performance in half and full cells can be attributed to its unique structure, which can not only promote the contact of electrode and electrolyte during the charge and discharge processes, but also shorten the transmission path of electrons and ions. More importantly, this study inspires a better design of various metal oxide/carbon electrode materials for high performance lithium ion batteries., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)