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Tissue Engineering is a scientific discipline that aims to regenerate tissues and organs that are diseased, lost or congenitally absent. It encompasses the use of suitable synthetic equivalents of native extracellular matrix that may or may not be supplemented with cells or relevant growth factors. Such scaffolds are designed to reside at the site of implantation for a variable period of time during which they induce the regeneration of native tissue. During this time, they also provide a template for new cells to attach, infiltrate, differentiate into appropriate phenotype and eventually restore function of the concerned tissue. Among the factors that affect the outcome are the composition of scaffold, methods of fabrication, bulk properties of the scaffold and topography and architecture at the cellular level. Bone is unique in the body in that it is one of the few tissues capable of complete regeneration even in adults, as seen during fracture healing. However, certain conditions (non-union of fractures, congenital and acquired bone deficiencies) exist in which the regenerative capacities of bone are exceeded and appropriate intervention becomes necessary. Current treatment options include autologous bone grafts harvested from iliac crest or de-cellularized allografts or synthetic substitutes made from metals, ceramics and polymers. However these options have serious limitations: while autografts are limited in supply, necessitate second surgery and show inadequate vascularization, allografts can transmit viral infections. Metals, ceramics and polymers are in essence structural replacements without performing any biological function. Other problems associated with these synthetic materials include adverse immune reactions, corrosion, stress-shielding and secondary fractures due to inadequate osseo-integration. Bone tissue engineering is a specialized field of research that provides an alternative strategy to repair bone defects by exploiting the advances in engineering and better understanding of bone biology. Scaffold-based tissue engineering approach is a promising field that involves implantation of a biomaterial that is specifically matched in terms of biological and material properties to the tissue it replaces. This study explores the feasibility of using electrospinning as a potential fabrication strategy for bone tissue engineering applications, more specifically intended for cleft palate repair. This model represents a congenital deformity that affects both hard and soft tissues and presents unique challenges and opportunities. Among the challenges are: the need for the implant allow growth of the most complex areas of the facial skeleton, integrate and grow with the patient through adolescence, the ability of the implant to not interfere with vital functions including breathing and feeding. Further the implant should provide a flexible matrix that can effectively support erupting teeth. In spite of these extreme demands, maxilla is a non load-bearing membranous bone, a favorable consideration from materials engineering perspective. The present study is organized into three independent sections. The first section investigates developing strategies intended to improve the material properties of electrospun bone scaffold. Bone is composed of a high volume fraction (50%) of inorganic hydroxyapatite nanocrystals that is closely associated with collagen. The dispersal of brittle mineral is critical in not only strengthening the bone in compression but also contributes to the osteoconductivity of the matrix. Since loading of mineral in a bone scaffold is a serious limitation, we attempted to achieve improved loading of bone mineral by dual mineralization approach. We first incorporated nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (nHA) directly into the scaffold by adding it to the electrospinning polymer solution. The second step involves inducing biomimetic mineralization of electrospun scaffolds by incubating them in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 2 weeks. The hypothesis was that the nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite seeded during electrospinning would act as sites for nucleation and further crystal growth when incubated in solution supersaturated with respect to calcium and phosphate ions. We tested this approach in two synthetic, biocompatible polymers-polydioxanone and poly (lactide: glycolide) and four formulations of SBF with differential loading of nHA (0-50% by wt. of polymer). A modified Alizarin Red S (ARS) staining that specifically binds to calcium was developed that allowed us to quantify the mineral content of 3D scaffold with great accuracy. Results indicated a unique combination of factors: PDO scaffolds containing 50% nHA incubated in 1x revised-SBF incubated under static conditions gave maximum mineralization over a period of two weeks. We then sought to exploit these findings to engineer a stiffer scaffold by stacking multiple layers together and cold welding them under high pressure. Electrospun scaffolds (1, 2 or 4 layered stacks) were either compressed before or after mineralizing treatment with SBF. After two weeks, scaffolds were analyzed for total mineral content and stiffness by uniaxial tensile testing. Results indicated while compression of multiple layers significantly increases the stiffness of scaffolds, it also had lower levels of mineralization partly due to increased density of fibers and loss of surface area due to fiber welding. However this can be offset to a reasonable degree by increasing the number of stacks and hence this strategy can be successfully adopted to improve the mechanical properties of electrospun scaffolds. The second section introduces a novel infrared imaging technique to quantify and characterize the biological activity of biomaterials, based on cell adhesion. Cells attach to the surface by the formation of focal contacts where multiple proteins including vinculin and talin assemble to signal critical processes like cell survival, migration, proliferation and differentiation. After allowing MG-63 osteoblasts to adhere to 2D biomaterial surface coated with extracellular matrix proteins (collagen, gelatin, fibronectin) cells were fixed and probed with antibodies for vinculin and talin. Secondary antibodies, tagged with infrared-sensitive fluorescent dyes, were used to quantify the molecules of interest. In addition, the kinetics of focal contact formation in these different substrates was followed. Successful quantification of focal contacts were made and further research revealed phosphorylation of vinculin at pY-822 as one potential mechanism for recruitment of vinculin to focal contacts. Hence it could represent a subset of vinculin and might serve as a specific molecular marker for focal contacts. As an extension, we evaluated the possibility of using such an assay to quantify 3D electrospun tissue engineering scaffolds. We fabricated scaffolds of graded biological activity by electrospinning blends of polydioxanone and collagen in different ratios. Vinculin and talin expressed by MG-63 cultured on these scaffolds for 24 hours were quantified in a similar manner. Results indicate that while talin does not show a significant difference in expression among different scaffolds, vinculin showed a positive correlation with increasing biological activity of scaffolds. In conclusion, we have identified vinculin as a reliable marker of focal contacts in 3D scaffolds while phosphovinculin (pY-822) was more specific to focal contacts in coated 2D substrates. In both instances, infrared imaging proved to be reliable in study of focal contacts. The third section aims to make the bone scaffolds osteoinductive- a property of a material to induce new bone formation even when implanted in subcutaneous and intramuscular heterotopic sites. Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) are potent cytokines that can induce migration, proliferation and differentiation of stem cells along osteoblastic lineage. The therapeutic efficacy of BMPs in the treatment of severe bone defects has been identified and is currently FDA approved for specific orthopedic applications. BMPs are clinically administered in a buffer form that not only makes the treatment expensive but less effective. Suitable delivery systems for BMP delivery have been an intense area of investigation. We rationalized electrospinning as a strategy to incorporate BMP within the scaffold and that would enable controlled release when implanted. One of the drawbacks of using electrospinning to deliver bioactive molecules is the potential denaturing effect and eventual loss of activity of BMPs. The final section of this dissertation tries to develop sensitive and relevant assays that could answer intriguing questions about solvent-protein interaction. We chose to use the BMP-2/7 heterodimer as the osteoinductive molecule of choice because of its superior potency compared to homodimer counterparts. We characterized the detection and quantification of BMP-2/7 using a slot blot technique. Further, we used a novel cell line (C2C12 BRA) to test the retention of activity of BMP-2/7 that has been exposed to organic solvents. Results indicate significant loss of activity when BMPs are exposed to organic solvents but complete recovery was possible by diluting the solvent with an aqueous buffer.

Tissue engineering has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional orthopaedic grafting therapies. The general paradigm for this approach, in which phenotype-specific cells and/or bioactive growth factors are integrated into polymeric matrices, has been successfully applied in recent years toward the development of bone, ligament, and cartilage tissues in vitro and in vivo. Despite these advances, an optimal cell source for skeletal tissue repair and regeneration has not been identified. Furthermore, the lack of robust, functional orthopaedic tissue interfaces, such as the bone-ligament enthesis, severely limits the integration and biological performance of engineered tissue substitutes. This works aims to address these limitations by spatially controlling the genetic modification and differentiation of fibroblasts into a mineralizing osteoblastic phenotype within three-dimensional polymeric matrices. The overall objective of this project was to investigate transcription factor-based gene therapy strategies for the differentiation of fibroblasts into a mineralizing cell source for orthopaedic tissue engineering applications. Our central hypothesis was that fibroblasts genetically engineered to express Runx2 via conventional and biomaterial-mediated ex vivo gene transfer approaches will differentiate into a mineralizing osteoblastic phenotype. We have demonstrated that a combination of retroviral Runx2 overexpression and glucocorticoid hormone treatment synergistically induces osteoblastic differentiation and biological mineral deposition in primary dermal fibroblasts cultured in monolayer. We report for the first time that glucocorticoids induce osteoblastic differentiation in this model system by modulating the phosphorylation state of a negative regulatory serine residue (Ser125) on Runx2 through an MKP-1-dependent mechanism. Furthermore, we utilized these Runx2-genetically engineered fibroblasts to create mineralized templates for bone repair in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we engineered a heterogeneous bone-soft tissue interface with a novel biomaterial-mediated gene transfer approach. Overall, these results are significant toward the ultimate goal of regenerating complex, higher-order orthopaedic grafting templates which mimic the cellular and microstructural characteristics of native tissue. Cellular therapies based on primary dermal fibroblasts would be particularly beneficial for patients with a compromised ability to recruit progenitors to the sight of injury as result of traumatic injury, radiation treatment, or osteodegenerative disease.

Tissue engineering is a promising alternative strategy to produce artificial bone substitutes / however, the control of the cell organization and cell behavior to create fully functional 3-D constructs has not yet been achieved. To overcome these, activities have been concentrated on the development of multi-functional tissue engineering scaffolds capable of delivering the required bioactive agents to initiate and control cellular activities. The aim of this study was to prepare tissue engineered constructs composed of polymeric scaffolds seeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) carrying a nanoparticulate growth factor delivery system that would sequentially deliver the growth factors in order to mimic the natural bone healing process. To achieve this, BMP-2 and BMP-7, the osteogenic growth factors, were encapsulated in different polymeric nanocapsules (poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV)) with different properties (degradation rates, crystallinity) and, therefore, different release rates to achieve the early release of BMP-2 followed by the release of BMP-7, as it is in nature. Initially, these nanoparticulate delivery systems were characterized and then the effect of single, simultaneous and sequential delivery of BMP-2 and BMP-7 from these delivery systems was studied in vitro using rat bone marrow MSCs. The effect of using these two growth factors in a sequential manner by mimicking their natural bioavailability timing was shown with maximized osteogenic activity results. BMP-2 loaded PLGA nanocapsules were subcutaneously implanted into Wistar rats and according to initial results, their biocompatibility as well as the positive effect of BMP-2 release on the formation of osteoclast-like cells was shown. To complete the construction of the bioactive scaffold, this nanoparticulate sequential delivery system was incorporated into two different types of polymeric systems / natural (chitosan) and synthetic (poly(&amp / #949 / -caprolactone) (PCL)). 3-D fibrous scaffolds were produced using these materials by wet spinning and 3-D plotting. Incorporation of nanocapsules into 3-D chitosan scaffolds was studied by two different methods: incorporation within and onto chitosan fibers. Incorporation into 3-D PCL scaffolds was achieved by coating the nanocapsules onto the fibers of the scaffolds in an alginate layer. With both scaffold systems, incorporation of nanocapsule populations capable of delivering BMP-2 and BMP-7 in single, simultaneous and sequential fashion was achieved. As with free nanocapsules, the positive effect of sequential delivery on the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was shown with both scaffold systems, creating multi-functional scaffolds capable of inducing bone healing.

Surface modification techniques have played important roles in various aspects of modern technology. They have been employed to improve substrates by altering surface physicochemical properties. An ideal surface modifying technique would be a method that is applicable to any kind of materials prepared from a wide range of polymers and that can occur under mild reaction conditions. The work in this thesis has utilized four main concepts: I) the development of a ‘grafting-from’ technique by covalently growing polymer grafts from particle surfaces, II) the presence of steric and electrosteric forces due to long-range repulsive interactions between particles, III) a combined surface grafting and layer-by-layer approach to create polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) on particle surfaces to fabricate strong and functional materials, and IV) the roles of hydrophilic polymer grafts and substrate geometry on surface degradation. A non-destructive surface grafting technique was developed and applied to polylactide (PLA) particle surfaces. Their successful modification was verified by observed changes to the surface chemistry, morphology and topography of the particles. To quantify the aggregation behavior of grafted and non-grafted particles, force interaction measurements were performed using colloidal probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Long-range repulsive interactions were observed when symmetric systems, i.e., hydrophilic polymer grafts on two interacting surfaces, and asymmetric system were applied. Electrosteric forces were observed when the symmetric substrates interacted at pH 7.4. When PEMs were alternately assembled on the surface of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) particles, the grafted surfaces played a dominated role in altering the surface chemistry and morphology of the particles. Three-dimensional scaffolds of surface grafted particle coated with PEMs demonstrated high mechanical performance that agreed well with the mechanical performance of cancellous bone. Nanomaterials were used to functionalize the scaffolds and further influence their physicochemical properties. For example, when magnetic nanoparticles were used to functionalize the scaffolds, a high electrical conductivity was imparted, which is important for bone tissue regeneration. Furthermore, the stability of the surface grafted particles was evaluated in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution. The nature of the hydrophilic polymer grafts and the geometry of the PLLA substrates played central roles in altering the surface properties of films and particles. After 10 days of PBS immersion, larger alterations in the surface morphology were observed on the film compared with microparticles grafted with poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). In contrast to the PAA-grafted substrates, the morphology of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm)-grafted substrates was not affected by PBS immersion. Additionally, PAAm-grafted microparticulate substrates encountered surface degradation more rapidly than PAAm-grafted film substrates. / <p>QC 20151002</p>

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-04-16T19:44:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 WILLIAMS TELES BARBOSA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPG-CEMat 2014..pdf: 2309358 bytes, checksum: 60fe4478ffb44784348a9ae62c055d89 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-16T19:44:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 WILLIAMS TELES BARBOSA - DISSERTAÇÃO PPG-CEMat 2014..pdf: 2309358 bytes, checksum: 60fe4478ffb44784348a9ae62c055d89 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / Capes / Biocerâmicas porosas são utilizadas para fornecer local onde o tecido ósseo possa crescer e fixar o implante biologicamente. A hidroxiapatita [HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] é um fosfato de cálcio que tem recebido atenção considerável nas últimas duas décadas como material de implante. Devido à sua ocorrência natural no tecido ósseo, os fosfatos de cálcio possuem boas propriedades de biocompatibilidade e osteocondução, tornando-a um dos biomateriais mais promissores na fabricação de scaffolds para a engenharia de tecido ósseo. O objetivo do presente trabalho centrou-se no desenvolvimento e otimização de estruturas tridimensionais porosas a base de HA combinando o método Sol-Gel e a réplica da esponja de poliuretano (PU), permitindo uma interconectividade e distribuição variada dos poros. Os scaffolds desenvolvidos foram caracterizados pelas técnicas de Espectroscopia na Região do Infravermelho com Transformada de Fourier (FTIR), Difração de Raios X (DRX), Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV), Espectroscopia por Energia Dispersiva de Raios X (EDS), Análise Termogravimétrica (TG), Porosidade, Ensaio de Compressão. Os resultados de FTIR apresentaram as bandas características da HA. A técnica de DRX revelou a presença da fase cristalina de HA (95%), como também em menor quantidade o α-Fosfato Tricálcico (2,5%). As análises por MEV revelaram scaffolds com poros interconectados com tamanhos de poros variando entre 50µm a 200μm e o EDS detectou a presença dos elementos químicos característicos da HA, como o Cálcio e o Fósforo. Os resultados de TG permitiram confirmar que as curvas de temperatura utilizadas no processo de sinterização, são eficientes para a queima da esponja, obtendo-se somente uma fase inorgânica de apatita. Os scaffolds apresentaram uma porosidade total de aproximadamente 75% e resistência à compressão variando de 3,13 a 4,86 MPa. Diante dos resultados obtidos foi possível produzir scaffolds de apatita através da metodologia Sol-Gel e combinação com a metodologia de replica de esponja porosa, com características que devem permitir a regeneração óssea. / Porous bioceramics are used to provide location where the bone tissue can grow and biologically fixing the implant. Hydroxyapatite [HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] is a calcium phosphate which has received considerable attention over the past two decades as an implant material. Due to its naturally occurring in bone tissue, the calcium phosphate has good biocompatibility and osteoconductive properties, making it one of the most promising biomaterials in the manufacture of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The objective of this work was the development and optimization of porous three-dimensional structures composed of HA, combining sol-gel method with the replica of a polyurethane foam, allowing interconnectivity and scattered distribution of pores. The developed scaffolds were characterized by Fourier Transform in the Infrared Region (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), Porosity Tests and Compression Tests. The FTIR results showed the characteristic bands of the hydroxyapatite. The XRD technique revealed the presence of a crystalline phase belonging to hydroxyapatite (97,5%), and to a lesser extent the α-Tricalcium Phosphate (2,5%). Analysis by SEM revealed scaffolds with interconnected pores which had sizes ranging from 50μm to 200μm and EDS detected the presence of specific chemical elements of hydroxyapatite such as Calcium and Phosphorus. TG results allowed to confirm that the temperature curves used in the sintering process, is effective for burning of the sponge, yielding only an inorganic phase of apatite. The scaffolds showed a porosity of about 75% and compressive moduli ranging from 3.13 to 4.86 MPa. Based on these results, it was possible to produce scaffolds of HA by Sol-Gel method in combination with replica of a polyurethane foam, with attributes for bone regeneration.

L’Ingénierie tissulaire (IT) est un domaine interdisciplinaire qui applique les principes de l'ingénierie et des sciences de la vie au développement de substituts biologiques afin de restaurer, maintenir ou améliorer la fonction tissulaire. Sa première application consiste à remplacer les tissus endommagés par des produits cellulaires artificiels. Une autre application de l’IT est basée sur la production des modèles en 2 et 3 dimensions (2D et 3D) pour des études biologiques et pharmacologiques in vitro. Ces modèles ou remplacements de tissus peuvent être fabriqués en utilisant des différentes méthodes de médecine, biologie, chimie, physique, informatique et mécanique, fournissant un micro-environnement spécifique avec différents types de cellules, facteurs de croissance et matrice. L'un des principaux défis de l'IT la pénétration cellulaire limitée dans les parties internes des biomatériaux poreux. Une faible viabilité cellulaire au centre du produit d'IT est la conséquence de la diffusion limitée d'oxygène et de nutriments du fait d’un réseau vasculaire insuffisant dans l'ensemble de la construction 3D. Le BioAssembage couche-par-couche est une nouvelle approche basée sur l'assemblage de petites constructions cellularisées permettant une distribution cellulaire homogène et une vascularisation plus efficace dans des produits d’IT.Notre hypothèse est que l'approche couche-par-couche est plus adaptée à la régénération osseuse que l'approche conventionnelle de l'IT. L'objectif principal de cette thèse était d'évaluer les avantages de l'approche couche-par-couche en utilisant des membranes de polymères imprimées en 3D et ensemencées avec des cellules primaires humaines. Nous avons évalué l'efficacité de la formation du réseau vasculaire in vivo dans toute la construction 3D en utilisant cette approche et en la comparant à l'approche conventionnelle basée sur l'ensemencement des cellules sur la surface des scaffolds massives. Il n'y avait pas de différence significative dans le nombre de vaisseaux sanguins formés en 3D au niveau des parties externes des constructions implantées en site souscutanée chez des souris. Mais dans les parties internes des implants qui n'étaient pas en contact direct avec un tissu hôte, nous avons pu observer une formation des vaisseaux sanguins statistiquement plus efficace lorsque l'approche du bio-assemblage couche-par-couche a été utilisée. Cette formation de réseau vasculaire était plus importante dans le cas de co-cultures que de mono-cultures.Il y avait plusieurs objectifs secondaires dans ce travail. Le premier était de fabriquer des constructions 3D cellularisées pour l'IT en utilisant des membranes d'acide polylactique (PLA) et des cellules primaires humaines : des cellules de stroma de moelle osseuse humaine (HBMSCs) isolées de la moelle osseuse et des cellules progénitrices endothéliales (EPCs) isolées du sang du cordon ombilical. Ensuite, nous avons comparé différentes technologies de fabrication des scaffolds: impression 3D directe à partir de poudre de PLA et impression par fil fondu en utilisant une imprimante commerciale et une autre fabriquée sur mesure. L'imprimante sur mesure a permis le plus haut niveau de résolution d'impression spécialement adaptée à la forme et la taille des pores. Par ailleurs, nous avons évalué différents systèmes de stabilisation pour l'assemblage couche par couche : l’utilisation de clips en PLA imprimés en 3D a fourni une stabilisation plus efficace pour empiler les membranes PLA couche par couche. Un autre avantage de ce système de stabilisation est qu'il peut être implanté avec des implants. Ensuite, nous avons observé une prolifération et une différenciation cellulaire plus efficaces lorsque le système de co-culture était utilisé, en comparaison avec des mono-cultures.L'approche du bioassemblage couche-par-couche semble être une solution appropriée pour une vascularisation efficace dans des structures 3D entières d'ingénierie tissulaire. / Tissue Engineering (TE) is “an interdisciplinary field that applies principles of engineering and the life sciences toward development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function”. The First application of TE is to replace damaged tissues by artificial cell-materials products of tissue engineering (TE). Another TE application is to produce 2 or 3 dimensional (2D and 3D) models for biological and pharmacological in vitro studies. These models or tissue replacements can be fabricated using a combination of different interdisciplinary methods of medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, informatics and mechanics, providing specific micro-environment with different cell types, growth factors and matrix.One of the major challenges of tissue engineering is related to limited cell penetration in the inner parts of porous biomaterials. Poor cell viability in the center of engineered tissue is a consequence of limited oxygen and nutrients diffusion due to insufficient vascular network within the entire construct. Layer-by-layer (LBL) BioAssembly is a new approach based on assembly of small cellularized constructs that may lead to homogenous cell distribution and more efficient three dimensional vascularization of large tissue engineering constructs.Our hypothesis is that LBL Bioassembly approach is more suitable for bone regeneration than conventional tissue engineering approach. The primary objective of this thesis was to evaluate the advantages of LBL Bioassembly approach using 3D-printed polymer membranes seeded with human primary cells. We have evaluated the efficiency of vascular network formation in vivo within entire 3D tissue engineering construct using LBL bioassembly approach and comparing it to the conventional approach based on seeding of cells on the surface of massive 3D scaffolds. There was no significant difference in number of formed blood vessels in 3D at the outer parts of constructs implanted subcutaneously in mice 8 weeks post-implantation. But in the inner parts of implants which were not in direct contact with a host tissue, we could observe statistically more blood vessel formation when LBL bioassembly approach was used. This vascular network formation was more important in the case of co-cultures than mono-vultures of HBMSCs.There were several secondary objectives in this work. The first was to fabricate cellularized 3D constructs for bone tissue engineering using poly(lactic) acid (PLA) membranes and human primary cells: human bone marrow stroma cells (HBMSCs) isolated from the bone marrow, and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) isolated from the umbilical cord blood. Then, we have compared different Additive manufacturing technologies to fabricate scaffolds: direct 3D printing (3DP) starting from PLA powder dissolved in chloroform and fused deposition modelling (FDM) using a commercial or a custom-made printer with different resolutions.The custom-made printer equipped with 100 μm nozzle allowed the highest level of printing resolution concerning pores shape and size. In the meantime we evaluated different stabilization systems for layer-by-layer assembling of PLA membranes with human primary cells: the use of 3D printed PLA clips provided the most efficient stabilization to stack PLA membranes in 3D. Another advantage of this stabilization system is that it could be implanted together with LBL constructs. Then we investigated the most suitable cell culture system for such constructs and we observed more efficient cell proliferation and differentiation when co-culture system is used, comparing to mono-cultures.LBL bioassembly approach seems to be suitable solution for efficient vascularization within entire large 3D tissue engineering constructs especially when co-cultures of mesenchymal and endothelial cells are used.

Les infections ostéo-articulaires à Staphylococcus aureus sont des pathologies fréquentes dont les conséquences peuvent aller de la simple altération cellulaire à un retard de la réparation osseuse ou une réponse inflammatoire excessive. Afin d’étudier ce phénomène, nous avons, dans un premier temps, développé deux modèles d’infections in vitro faisant interagir Staphylococcus aureus et des cellules osseuses primaires issues d’explants chirurgicaux humains. Ces cellules ont été préalablement cultivées dans un milieu standard ou un milieu ostéogénique afin d’obtenir 2 populations à des stades de maturation différents. L’étude de l’internalisation de Staphylococcus aureus, de la mortalité cellulaire et de la production de médiateurs inflammatoires pour ces 2 populations a permis d’établir si l’impact de Staphylococcus aureus variait en fonction de la maturation cellulaire. Dans un second temps, nous avons étudié l’impact de Staphylococcus aureus sur des cellules souches mésenchymateuses dérivées du cordon ombilical. En effet, dans le cadre d’une régénération osseuse en site infecté, les cellules souches mésenchymateuses pourraient être amenées à interagir avec Staphylococcus aureus. Nous avons donc caractérisé la capacité de ces cellules à internaliser Staphylococcus aureus, à survivre face à l’infection et à produire des médiateurs inflammatoires dans notre modèle in vitro d’infection aiguë. Ce projet nous a permis de valider nos modèles d’infection in vitro et de caractériser l’impact de Staphylococcus aureus sur différentes cellules du microenvironnement osseux, donnant ainsi de nouvelles pistes pour le développement de stratégies pour la lutte antibactérienne et l’ingénierie tissulaire osseuse. / Staphylococcus aureus-related bone and joint infections are common diseases whose consequences can range from simple cell damage to delayed bone repair or excessive inflammatory response. To study this phenomenon, we have developed two models of in vitro infection with Staphylococcus aureus and primary bone-forming cells derived from human surgical explants. These cells have been previously cultured in a standard medium or osteogenic medium to obtain two populations at different stages of maturation. The study of Staphylococcus aureus internalization, cell death and production of inflammatory mediators in these 2 populations allowed us to establish whether the impact of Staphylococcus aureus varied depending on cell maturation. We also studied the impact of Staphylococcus aureus on mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical cord. In case of bone regeneration in infected site, mesenchymal stem cells may have to interact with Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, we characterized the ability of these cells to internalize Staphylococcus aureus, to survive against the infection and to produce inflammatory mediators in our in vitro model of acute infection. This project allowed us to validate our in vitro infection models and to characterize the impact of Staphylococcus aureus on different cells in the bone microenvironment, providing new approaches for the development of antibacterial strategies and bone tissue engineering.