An Inverse Thermogelling Bioink Based on an ABA-Type Poly(2-oxazoline) Amphiphile

Hydrogels are key components in several biomedical research areas such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and biofabrication. Here, a novel ABA-type triblock copolymer comprising poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) as the hydrophilic A blocks and poly(2-phenethyl-2-oxazoline) as the aromatic and hydrophobic B block is introduced. Above the critical micelle concentration, the polymer self-assembles into small spherical polymer micelles with a hydrodynamic radius of approx 8-8.5 nm. Interestingly, this specific combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic aromatic moieties leads to rapid thermoresponsive inverse gelation at polymer concentrations above a critical gelation concentration (20 wt %) into a macroporous hydrogel of densely packed micelles. This hydrogel exhibited pronounced viscoelastic solid-like properties, as well as extensive shear-thinning, rapid structure recovery, and good strain resistance properties. Excellent 3D-printability of the hydrogel at lower temperature opens a wide range of different applications, for example, in the field of biofabrication. In preliminary bioprinting experiments using NIH 3T3 cells, excellent cell viabilities of more than 95% were achieved. The particularly interesting feature of this novel material is that it can be used as a printing support in hybrid bioink systems and sacrificial bioink due to rapid dissolution at physiological conditions.Peer reviewe

Oxidation, Coordination, and Nickel-Mediated Deconstruction of a Highly Electron-Rich Diboron Analogue of 1,3,5-Hexatriene

The reductive coupling of an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) stabilized (dibromo)vinylborane yields a 1,2-divinyldiborene, which, although isoelectronic to a 1,3,5-triene, displays no extended π conjugation because of twisting of the C2B2C2 chain. While this divinyldiborene coordinates to copper(I) and platinum(0) in an η2-B2 and η4-C2B2 fashion, respectively, it undergoes a complex rearrangement to an η4-1,3-diborete upon complexation with nickel(0)

Oxidation, Coordination, and Nickel-Mediated Deconstruction of a Highly Electron-Rich Diboron Analogue of 1,3,5-Hexatriene

The reductive coupling of an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) stabilized (dibromo)vinylborane yields a 1,2-divinyl- diborene, which, although isoelectronic to a 1,3,5-triene, displays no extended p conjugation because of twisting of the C$_2$B$_2$C$_2$ chain. While this divinyldiborene coordinates to copper(I) and platinum(0) in an η$^2$-B$_2$ and η$^4$-C$_2$B$_2$ fashion, respectively, it undergoes a complex rearrangement to an η$^4$-1,3-diborete upon complexation with nickel(0)

A549 in-silico 1.0: A first computational model to simulate cell cycle dependent ion current modulation in the human lung adenocarcinoma.

Lung cancer is still a leading cause of death worldwide. In recent years, knowledge has been obtained of the mechanisms modulating ion channel kinetics and thus of cell bioelectric properties, which is promising for oncological biomarkers and targets. The complex interplay of channel expression and its consequences on malignant processes, however, is still insufficiently understood. We here introduce the first approach of an in-silico whole-cell ion current model of a cancer cell, in particular of the A549 human lung adenocarcinoma, including the main functionally expressed ion channels in the plasma membrane as so far known. This hidden Markov-based model represents the electrophysiology behind proliferation of the A549 cell, describing its rhythmic oscillation of the membrane potential able to trigger the transition between cell cycle phases, and it predicts membrane potential changes over the cell cycle provoked by targeted ion channel modulation. This first A549 in-silico cell model opens up a deeper insight and understanding of possible ion channel interactions in tumor development and progression, and is a valuable tool for simulating altered ion channel function in lung cancer electrophysiology

Comprehensive evaluation of the metabolic effects of insect meal from Tenebrio molitor L. in growing pigs by transcriptomics, metabolomics and lipidomics

Background The hypothesis was tested that insect meal (IM) as protein source influences intermediary metabolism of growing pigs. To test this, 30 male, 5-week-old crossbred pigs were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 10 pigs each with similar body weights (BW) and fed isonitrogenous diets either without (CON) or with 5% IM (IM5) or 10% IM (IM10) from Tenebrio molitor L. for 4 weeks and key metabolic tissues (liver, muscle, plasma) were analyzed using omics-techniques. Results Most performance parameters did not differ across the groups, whereas ileal digestibilities of most amino acids were 6.7 to 15.6%-units lower in IM10 than in CON (P < 0.05). Transcriptomics of liver and skeletal muscle revealed a total of 166 and 198, respectively, transcripts differentially expressed between IM10 and CON (P < 0.05). Plasma metabolomics revealed higher concentrations of alanine, citrulline, glutamate, proline, serine, tyrosine and valine and a lower concentration of asparagine in IM10 than in CON (P < 0.05). Only one out of fourteen quantifiable amino acid metabolites, namely methionine sulfoxide (MetS), in plasma was elevated by 45% and 71% in IM5 and IM10, respectively, compared to CON (P < 0.05). Plasma concentrations of both, major carnitine/acylcarnitine species and bile acids were not different across groups. Lipidomics of liver and plasma demonstrated no differences in the concentrations of triacylglycerols, cholesterol and the main phospholipids, lysophospholipids and sphingolipids between groups. The percentages of all individual phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) species in the liver showed no differences between groups, except those with 6 double bonds (PC 38:6, PC 40:6, PE 38:6, PE 40:6), which were markedly lower in IM10 than in CON (P < 0.05). In line with this, the percentage of C22:6n-3 in hepatic total lipids was lower in IM10 than in the other groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions Comprehensive analyzes of the transcriptome, lipidome and metabolome of key metabolic tissues indicate that partial or complete replacement of a conventional protein source by IM in the diet has only a weak impact on the intermediary metabolism of growing pigs. Thus, it is concluded that IM from Tenebrio molitor L. can be used as a dietary source of protein in pigs without causing adverse effects on metabolism

An Inverse Thermogelling Bioink Based on an ABA Type Poly(2-Oxazoline) Amphiphile

Hydrogels are key components in several biomedical research areas such as biofabrication. Here, a novel ABA-type triblock copolymer is introduced that undergoes a inverse thermogelation, i.e. it forms a hydrogel about cooling aqueous polymer solutions. The macroporous hydrogel was rheologically investigate in detail and used for 3D printing using an extrusion based printer. Preliminary experiment show very good cytocompatibility of NIH 3T3 cells also after printing and the possibility to combine the novel material with other hydrogel forming materials such as alginate.<br /

Oxidation, Coordination, and Nickel‐Mediated Deconstruction of a Highly Electron‐Rich Diboron Analogue of 1,3,5‐Hexatriene

The reductive coupling of an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) stabilized (dibromo)vinylborane yields a 1,2-divinyl- diborene, which, although isoelectronic to a 1,3,5-triene, displays no extended p conjugation because of twisting of the C$_2$B$_2$C$_2$ chain. While this divinyldiborene coordinates to copper(I) and platinum(0) in an η$^2$-B$_2$ and η$^4$-C$_2$B$_2$ fashion, respectively, it undergoes a complex rearrangement to an η$^4$-1,3-diborete upon complexation with nickel(0)

Unravelling a novel mechanism in polymer self-assemblies: An order-order transition based on molecular interactions between hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks

Thermoresponsive hydrogel formation upon cooling in aqueous media is rarely described for synthetic polymers in the literature. However, if the sol-gel transition occurs in the physiologically relevant range (0-40 °C), there are many possible applications in areas such as drug delivery and biofabrication. Here, we describe a new mechanism of a thermally induced order-order transition in polymer self-assembly of an ABA triblock consisting of hydrophilic A blocks and a hydrophobic aromatic B block. Small-angle X-ray scattering confirmed worm-to-sphere transition upon heating on the nanoscale level while wide-angle X-ray scattering indicated a more uniform ordering of the macromolecular chains on the scale of 4-7 Å. NMR spectroscopy showed reduced mobility of various polymer segments in the hydrogel state, especially in the hydrophobic aromatic region. More importantly however, solution and solid-state NMR investigations also revealed close proximity of hydrophobic and hydrophilic repeat units in the gel state, which is less pronounced in the sol state. This interaction between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic block is responsible for the order-order transition and –ipso facto– inverse thermogelation. This unusual interaction is supported in silico by molecular dynamics modeling. Changes in the structure of the hydrophilic A blocks can be used to tune the gel strength, persistence, and gelation kinetics. This order-order transition based on unexpected and previously not described interactions between the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic repeat units opens new avenues to control and design macromolecular self-assembly