Yes / Biological hydrogels have been increasingly sought after as wound dressings or scaffolds for regenerative medicine, owing to their inherent biofunctionality in biological environments. Especially in moist wound healing, the ideal material should absorb large amounts of wound exudate while remaining mechanically competent in situ. Despite their large hydration, however, current biological hydrogels still leave much to be desired in terms of mechanical properties in physiological conditions. To address this challenge, a multi-scale approach is presented for the synthetic design of cyto-compatible collagen hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties (from the nano- up to the macro-scale), uniquely high swelling ratios and retained (more than 70%) triple helical features. Type I collagen was covalently functionalized with three different monomers, i.e. 4-vinylbenzyl chloride, glycidyl methacrylate and methacrylic anhydride, respectively. Backbone rigidity, hydrogen-bonding capability and degree of functionalization (F: 16 ± 12–91 ± 7 mol%) of introduced moieties governed the structure–property relationships in resulting collagen networks, so that the swelling ratio (SR: 707 ± 51–1996 ± 182 wt%), bulk compressive modulus (Ec: 30 ± 7–168 ± 40 kPa) and atomic force microscopy elastic modulus (EAFM: 16 ± 2–387 ± 66 kPa) were readily adjusted. Because of their remarkably high swelling and mechanical properties, these tunable collagen hydrogels may be further exploited for the design of advanced dressings for chronic wound care.

Introduction: Bacteria are the most common pathogens responsible for pulpal necrosis and periapical disease conditions. The importance of eradicating bacteria and their endotoxic by-products has been highlighted in numerous studies. Aim: The aim of this in vitro study was to establish the efficacy of six endodontic disinfection protocols in eradicating Enterococcus faecalis from single root canals of human teeth. Materials and Methods: Endodontic access cavities were prepared on 86, extracted, single rooted, human teeth. Root canal preparation was done using nickel titanium rotary files. Each tooth was sterilised, inoculated with E. faecalis and randomly allocated to one of seven groups (n = 12). The six disinfection protocols were 3% sodium hypochlorite solution (NaOCl), 2% chlorhexidine digluconate solution (CHX), Chlor-XTRA, 3% NaOCl combined with 2% CHX, 3% NaOCl followed by photo-activated disinfection (PAD) and PAD alone. The seventh group was irrigated with sterile water (control). The roots were fractured longitudinally. Dentine samples from coronal, middle and apical sections of one half of each root were plated onto brain heart infusion (BHI) plates. These were incubated anaerobically at 37⁰C for five days. The colony-forming units (cfu) were counted. The second half of each root was prepared for Scanning Electron Microscopy. The Pairwise Wilcoxon Rank Sum test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the cfu counts of the seven groups to one another. Results: Two per cent CHX, Chlor-XTRA, combination of 3% NaOCl and 2% CHX and irrigation with 3% NaOCl followed by PAD were able to eradicate E. faecalis from the coronal levels of the root canals. A combination of 3% NaOCl and 2% CHX and irrigation with 3% NaOCl followed by PAD were able to eradicate E. faecalis from the middle levels of the root canals. None of the disinfection protocols were able to eradicate E. faecalis from the apical levels of all root canals. The regimen of 3% NaOCl followed by 2% CHX was slightly more efficient in eradicating E. faecalis from the root canals than the other disinfection regimens. Dentine erosion and precipitate formation were two incidental observations in some of the samples upon SEM examination. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Odontology / unrestricted

Le monoxyde d'azote NO• est impliqué dans de nombreux processus biologiques. Il intervient, entre autres, dans la vasodilatation, la neurotransmission, il peut impliquer le développement ou l'apoptose des cellules et possède également des propriétés bactéricides. Le contrôle de la libération de ce radical est donc de grand intérêt pour des applications biomédicales en chimiothérapie photo-activée (PACT) ainsi qu'en inactivation photo-dynamique (PDI). La stratégie ici est de synthétiser des complexes de ruthénium à ligand nitrosyle photoréactifs, qui sont capables de libérer NO• sous irradiation mono ou biphotonique. L'excitation à deux photons permet une irradiation dans la fenêtre thérapeutique, très focalisée et une pénétration du faisceau plus profonde qu'en monophotonique. Ces travaux de thèse sont consacrés à la synthèse et l'étude des propriétés photochimiques de complexes [RuNO] et à leurs applications en biologie. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse développe l'état de l'art dans le domaine des complexes de ruthénium à ligand nitrosyle et présente les enjeux biologiques. Le second chapitre présente les propriétés de photolibération de NO• de complexes possédant le ligand 4'-(2-fluorényl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine, sous excitation à un et à deux photons par des études spectroscopiques. Les photoproduits obtenus sont caractérisés par diffraction des rayons X. Dans un troisième chapitre, l'étude des complexes cis (Cl,Cl)- et trans (Cl,Cl)-[RuII(fluorène-terpyridine)Cl2NO]PF6 est menée dans l'eau. Les capacités de photolibération du trans (NO,OH)-[RuII(fluorène-terpyridine)(Cl)(OH)(NO)]PF6 dans les conditions biologiques sont étudiées. Le quatrième chapitre s'intéresse à la synthèse de nouveaux complexes constitués de ligands dérivés du 4'-(2-fluorényl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine et à leurs propriétés de photolibération de NO•. Le cinquième chapitre s'intéresse aux propriétés phototoxiques de ces complexes envers des cellules cancéreuses (HCT 116 et FaDu). Enfin, dans le sixième chapitre, les propriétés remarquables de ces systèmes dans la levée de la résistance de Staphylococcus epidermidis aux antibiotiques sont exposées. / Nitric oxide NO• is involved in numerous biological processes. It takes part to vasodilatation, neurotransmission, it can trigger cell proliferation or apoptosis and it also has bactericidal properties. Thus, NO• release control is of high interest for biomedical applications such as photo-activated chemotherapy (PACT) or photodynamic inactivation (PDI). The strategy here is to synthesize photoreactive ruthenium complexes with nitrosyl ligand which can release NO• under one and two-photon absorption. Compared with one-photon excitation, two-photon excitation allows high focalization and deep penetration of the beam, while exciting in the therapeutic window. This thesis is dedicated to the synthesis of [RuNO] complexes and their biological applications. The first chapter develops the state of the art in the field of ruthenium nitrosyl complexes and presents the biological issues. The second chapter presents the NO• photorelease properties of complexes with 4'-(2-fluorenyl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine ligand under one and two-photon excitation by spectroscopic studies. Photoproducts are characterized by X-ray diffraction. In a third chapter, cis (Cl,Cl)- and trans (Cl,Cl)-[RuII(2-fluorene-terpyridine)Cl2NO]PF6 are studied in water. The photorelease capacities of trans (NO,OH)-[RuII(fluorene-terpyridine)(Cl)(OH)(NO)]PF6 are studied in biological conditions. The fourth chapter presents the synthesis of new complexes with 4'-(2-fluorenyl)-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine ligand derivatives and their photorelease properties. The fifth chapter describes the phototoxic studies of these complexes on cancer cells (HCT 116 and FaDu). Finally, in the sixth chapter, the outstanding properties of these systems in the falling of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus epidermidis are exposed.

Optogenetics has emerged as a branch of biotechnology that combines genetic engineering with optics to observe intracellular changes as well as control cellular function. Despite recent progress, there still remains the need for an optogenetic tool that can specifically control Ca2+. Such a tool would greatly facilitate the study of highly Ca2+-dependent cellular processes that are regulated both spatially and temporally. Ca2+ signaling regulates many cellular processes in both healthy and diseased cells. The ability to modulate the shape, duration, and amplitude of Ca2+ signaling is important for elucidating mechanisms by which endogenous Ca2+ concentrations are maintained. In this thesis, we used optogenetic approaches to explore a number of strategies to control Ca2+ influx through store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) mediated by Stim1 and Orai1. To better study Ca2+ signaling in live cells, protein-based biosensors can be developed to monitor intracellular Ca2+ changes. To aid in this, we developed a computational modeling tool called FPMOD to improve both new and existing biosensor designs. Although FPMOD was initially intended for evaluating biosensor designs, other research groups have since used it to construct models of other proteins to answer questions related to protein conformation. We next studied the modulation of SOCE by using drug-inducible fusion proteins to study the regulation of Stim1 puncta formation. Interestingly, recruiting a Ca2+-buffering protein to Stim1 led to puncta formation, a previously unknown means of inducing puncta. These results suggest Stim1 may additionally be regulated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels. Finally, we developed LOVS1K, an optogenetic tool to directly activate Orai1 channels and specifically control Ca2+ influx. Photo-sensitive LOVS1K was used to generate both local Ca2+ influx at the membrane and global cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals. As proof of concept, LOVS1K was further used to modulate engineered Ca2+-dependent proteins. Ca2+ is a remarkably versatile intracellular messenger. The combination of high spatiotemporal control of irradiation and the ability of LOVS1K to generate both local and global Ca2+ changes provides a promising platform to study cellular processes that are highly dependent on different Ca2+ signals. Together, biosensors and engineered Ca2+-modulating tools can be used to study the many different aspects of Ca2+ signaling and controllably manipulate endogenous Ca2+ signaling pathways.

Optogenetics has emerged as a branch of biotechnology that combines genetic engineering with optics to observe intracellular changes as well as control cellular function. Despite recent progress, there still remains the need for an optogenetic tool that can specifically control Ca2+. Such a tool would greatly facilitate the study of highly Ca2+-dependent cellular processes that are regulated both spatially and temporally. Ca2+ signaling regulates many cellular processes in both healthy and diseased cells. The ability to modulate the shape, duration, and amplitude of Ca2+ signaling is important for elucidating mechanisms by which endogenous Ca2+ concentrations are maintained. In this thesis, we used optogenetic approaches to explore a number of strategies to control Ca2+ influx through store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) mediated by Stim1 and Orai1. To better study Ca2+ signaling in live cells, protein-based biosensors can be developed to monitor intracellular Ca2+ changes. To aid in this, we developed a computational modeling tool called FPMOD to improve both new and existing biosensor designs. Although FPMOD was initially intended for evaluating biosensor designs, other research groups have since used it to construct models of other proteins to answer questions related to protein conformation. We next studied the modulation of SOCE by using drug-inducible fusion proteins to study the regulation of Stim1 puncta formation. Interestingly, recruiting a Ca2+-buffering protein to Stim1 led to puncta formation, a previously unknown means of inducing puncta. These results suggest Stim1 may additionally be regulated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels. Finally, we developed LOVS1K, an optogenetic tool to directly activate Orai1 channels and specifically control Ca2+ influx. Photo-sensitive LOVS1K was used to generate both local Ca2+ influx at the membrane and global cytoplasmic Ca2+ signals. As proof of concept, LOVS1K was further used to modulate engineered Ca2+-dependent proteins. Ca2+ is a remarkably versatile intracellular messenger. The combination of high spatiotemporal control of irradiation and the ability of LOVS1K to generate both local and global Ca2+ changes provides a promising platform to study cellular processes that are highly dependent on different Ca2+ signals. Together, biosensors and engineered Ca2+-modulating tools can be used to study the many different aspects of Ca2+ signaling and controllably manipulate endogenous Ca2+ signaling pathways.