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Publication The effect of aligned electrospun fibers and macromolecular crowding in tenocyte culture(Elsevier Academic Press, 2019-11-30) Tsiapalis, Dimitrios; Rana, Shubhasmin; Doulgkeroglo, Meletios; Kearns, Stephen; Kelly, Jack; Bayon, Yves; Zeugolis, Dimitrios I.; Science Foundation Ireland; European Regional Development Fund; Horizon 2020Tendon injuries continuously rise, and regeneration is not only slow, but also limited due to the poor endogenous healing ability of the tendon tissue. Tissue grafts constitute the clinical gold standard treatment for severe injuries, but inherent limitations drive the field toward tissue engineering approaches to create suitable tissue constructs. Recapitulation of the native microenvironment represent a key challenge for the development of tendon tissue equivalents in vitro that can be further utilized as implantable devices. Methods to maintain cellular phenotype and to enhance extracellular matrix deposition for accelerated development of tissue-like modulus should be developed. Herein, we assessed the combining effect of surface topography and macromolecular crowding in human tenocyte culture. Our data demonstrated that bidirectionally aligned electrospun fibers induce physiological cell growth, while macromolecular crowding enhanced and accelerated tissue-specific extracellular matrix deposition. Collectively, these data advocate the use of multifactorial approaches for the accelerated development of functional tissue-like surrogates in vitro.Publication Production and characterization of chemically cross-linked collagen scaffolds(Humana Press, 2019-03-07) Sallent, Ignacio; Capella-Monsonís, Héctor; Zeugolis, Dimitrios I.; Science Foundation Ireland; European Regional Development Fund; Horizon 2020Chemical cross-linking of collagen-based devices is used as a means of increasing the mechanical stability and control the degradation rate upon implantation. Herein, we describe techniques to produce cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GTA; amine terminal cross-linker), 4-arm polyethylene glycol succinimidyl glutarate (4SP; amine terminal cross-linker), diphenyl phosphoryl azide (DPPA; carboxyl terminal cross-linker) and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC; carboxyl terminal cross-linker) collagen films. In addition, we provide protocols to characterise the biophysical (swelling), biomechanical (tensile) and biological (metabolic activity, proliferation and viability using human dermal fibroblasts and THP-1 macrophages) properties of the cross-linked collagen scaffolds.