The invention relates to a biocompatible scaffold for three dimensional cultivation of cells, said scaffold comprise one or more fibers randomly oriented to form a scaffold with open spaces for cultured cells. The one or more fibers are also coated with a bio-active coating and have a diameter of 100-3000 nm.

The invention relates to a matrix-mediated algal cell culture system comprising a porous matrix, a microalgal cell culture comprising cells immobilised on the porous matrix, and a vector including a nucleic acid sequence encoding a heterologous polypeptide of interest, wherein immobilisation of microalgal cells on the porous matrix results in the formation of interstitial spaces between the microalgal cells to allow for increased contact of the microalgal cells with the vector compared with a culture of microalgal cells which are not immobilised on a porous matrix, thereby allowing for more efficient transfection of the microalgal cells with the vector. The invention also relates to methods of screening single species of microalgae and mixed ecology samples for the ability to be transfected using the algal cell culture system, and to methods for the production of heterologous polypeptides using the matrix-mediated cell culture system.

The present invention provides tissue scaffolds, methods of generating such scaffolds, and methods of use of such scaffolds to generate aligned and functional neural tissues for use in methods including regenerative medicine, wound repair and transplantation.

A scaffold-free microtissue is disclosed that includes one or more gold nanostructures linked to a functional moiety, wherein the functional moiety is one or more vasculogenic peptides, one or more anti-inflammatory peptides, one or more antiapoptotic peptides, one or more antinecrotic peptides, one or more antioxidant peptides, one or more oligonucleotides, one or more lipid particles, one or more phospholipid particles, one or more liposomes, one or more nanoliposomes, one or more microRNAs, or one or more siRNAs. The scaffold-free microtissue further includes a plurality of cardiac myocytes or cardiac myoblasts, which are conjugated to the one or more gold nanostructures, wherein the plurality of cardiac myocytes or cardiac myoblasts are arranged in a cluster. The scaffold-free microtissue further includes a plurality of fibroblasts, wherein the fibroblasts are arranged in at least one layer of fibroblasts that substantially surrounds the cluster of gold-nanostructure-conjugated cardiac myocytes or gold-nanostructure-conjugated cardiac myoblasts.

A pharmaceutical composition includes a silicified cell or fraction thereof, a cationic layer disposed on at least a portion of the surface of the silicified cell or fraction thereof, and an immunomodulatory moiety bound to at least a portion of the cationic layer. Alternatively, the pharmaceutical composition includes a silicified cell or fraction thereof, a cationic layer disposed on at least a portion of the surface of the silicified cell or fraction thereof, an anionic layer disposed on at least a portion of the cationic layer, and an immunomodulatory moiety bound to at least a portion of the anionic layer.

The present invention provides a composite which can be produced by photostructuring a photostructurable matrix material in a composite formulation to form a structured matrix with nanoparticles, where the refractive index of the composite with nanoparticles differs from the refractive index of the composite without nanoparticles at one wavelength, selected from the range from 150 nm to 2000 nm by less than 0.5, said composite being hierarchically structured and comprising at least one structural unit (I) of a selected thickness (i) and structural units (II) branching from said structural unit (I) of a selected thickness (ii), wherein the thickness (ii) at the branch-off points is at most half the thickness (i). In addition, the present invention provides an improved process for the preparation of a composite comprising photostructured matrix material and nanoparticles contained therein and the use of the composite.

The present invention relates to a nano-ligand for promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells and a method of promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells by using the nano-ligand, and the method of promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells according to the present invention may temporally and spatially, and reversibly control nano-ligand sliding by applying a magnetic field to a substrate including the nano-ligands, and efficiently control stem cell adhesion and differentiation ex vivo or in vivo through the magnetic-field based on spatiotemporal control.

The present invention is directed to a method for the cultivation, optionally activation and growth of lymphocytes (T-, B- and NK-cells) by culturing these cells in a suitable cell growth medium on a nanoporous substrate having a pore diameter in the range of about 100 to 500 nm, optionally about 150 to 250 nm.

A method for regeneration or repair of an infarcted myocardium including an infarcted region in an animal comprising injecting into the animal a composition including one or more gold nanostructures is disclosed.

Biocompatible silica inorganic sculptured extracellular nanomatrices (iSECnMs) of silica nanozigzags are deposited by glancing angle deposition (GLAD), to achieve induction of specific differentiation without growth factors. The nanostructure includes a plurality of nanozigzags. The nanozigzags include SiO.sub.2 and the nanozigzags having a pitch of 80 nm to 250 nm, and a contact depth of 90 nm to 260 nm. A method of cell therapy including substantia nigra organoids formed on silica iSECnMs is also provided.