Bone marrow on a chip

Bone marrow grown within a device implanted in a mouse resembles natural marrow, researchers reported.  The tissue could be explanted whole, inserted into a lab-on-a-chip and maintained in vitro for 7 days.  The cultured marrow mimicked tissue responses to radiation toxicity and treatment for exposure normally only observed in vivo.

Bone marrow-on-a-chip replicates hematopoietic niche physiology in vitro; Y-S Torisawa et al; Nature Methods AOP doi:10.1038/nmeth.2938

http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmeth.2938.html

Inflammation-induced drug release

Researchers proposed and tested in vivo pH-responsive microspheres with PLGA-shells and NaHCO₃ / antibiotic cores for the treatment of osteomyelitis.  The acid from infected bone tissue reacted with NaHCO₃ to generate CO₂ which disrupted the PLGA shells and released the antibiotic.  Microspheres were delivered via an injectable calcium phosphate cement.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.201400158/abstract

Inflammation-induced drug release by using a pH responsive

gas-generating hollow-microsphere system for the treatment of osteomyelitis; M.F. Chung et al; Advanced Healthcare Materials; DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201400158.