Biointegrierte Materialien, Artefakte und Prozesse

Das Forschungsvorhaben "Biointegrierte Materialentwicklung" verfolgt die Entwicklung neuer funktionaler Materialien die beispielsweise in Städtebau, Architektur, Produktdesign und Agrikultur zur Anwendung kommen sollen. Durch die Kombination herkömmlicher Materialien und digitaler Konstruktions- und Bearbeitungsmethoden mit Organismen, organischen Prozessen und vor allem biologischem Wachstum sollen neue nachhaltige Materialien und Baustoffe, sowie andersartige Materialprozesse und alternative Formen der Poiesis untersucht werden. Sobald aber Werkstoffe nicht mehr nur als passive Einheiten betrachtet werden, die sich der technischen Konstruktion und der statischen Form unterordnen und in erster Linie durch Bearbeitungs- und Gebrauchseigenschaften bestimmt sind, sondern das eigendynamische zeitliche Verhalten organischer Systeme und natürlicher Wachstumsprozesse mit in den Fokus genommen werden, durchbrechen wir die gängige Dichotomie von Technik und Natur. Die Verbindung von Ingenieurprinzipien mit biologischen Prozessen und natürlichen Abläufen führt nicht nur zu andersartigen Entwurfsmethoden, Herstellungsverfahren und Produktlebenszyklen, sondern insgesamt zu einer Rehabilitation und Wiederinstandsetzung natürlicher Prozesse. Nicht mehr die analytische Beherrschung eines Gegenstandes oder die Erreichung detailliert geplanter Endzustände stehen im Zentrum, sondern die Konfiguration von Milieus und Potentialen, in denen sich natürliche Prozesse etablieren und in die wir gewünschte Funktionen einschreiben können, ohne das biologische Gleichgewicht zu zerstören

Systemically Administered TLR7/8 Agonist and Antigen-Conjugated Nanogels Govern Immune Responses against Tumors

[Image: see text] The generation of specific humoral and cellular immune responses plays a pivotal role in the development of effective vaccines against tumors. Especially the presence of antigen-specific, cytotoxic T cells influences the outcome of therapeutic cancer vaccinations. Different strategies, ranging from delivering antigen-encoding mRNAs to peptides or full antigens, are accessible but often suffer from insufficient immunogenicity and require immune-boosting adjuvants as well as carrier platforms to ensure stability and adequate retention. Here, we introduce a pH-responsive nanogel platform as a two-component antitumor vaccine that is safe for intravenous application and elicits robust immune responses in vitro and in vivo. The underlying chemical design allows for straightforward covalent attachment of a model antigen (ovalbumin) and an immune adjuvant (imidazoquinoline-type TLR7/8 agonist) onto the same nanocarrier system. In addition to eliciting antigen-specific T and B cell responses that outperform mixtures of individual components, our two-component nanovaccine leads in prophylactic and therapeutic studies to an antigen-specific growth reduction of different tumors expressing ovalbumin intracellularly or on their surface. Regarding the versatile opportunities for functionalization, our nanogels are promising for the development of highly customized and potent nanovaccines

Coordinated regulation of 4-coumarate: CoA ligase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase mRNAs in cultured plant cells

Ragg H, Kuhn DN, Hahlbrock K. Coordinated regulation of 4-coumarate: CoA ligase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase mRNAs in cultured plant cells. J. Biol. Chem. 1981;256:10061-10065

UV-induction of chalcone synthase mRNA in cell suspension cultures of Petroselinum hortense

DNAs complementary to poly(A)(+) mRNAs from UV-irradiated cell suspension cultures of parsley (Petroselinum hortense) were inserted into pBR322 and used to transform Escherichia coli strain RR1. A clone containing a DNA complementary to chalcone synthase mRNA was identified by hybrid-selected and hybrid-arrested translation. Large and rapid changes in the amount of chalcone synthase mRNA in response to irradiation of the cells was detected by RNA blot hybridization experiments. The pattern of changes coincided with that previously determined for the rate of chalcone synthase synthesis as measured either in vivo or with polyribosomal mRNA in vitro. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that induction of chalcone synthase by UV light is due to a transient increase in the rate of synthesis of chalcone synthase mRNA

UV-induction of chalcone synthase mRNA in cell suspension cultures of Petroselinum hortense

Kreuzaler F, Ragg H, Fautz E, Kuhn DN, Hahlbrock K. UV-induction of chalcone synthase mRNA in cell suspension cultures of Petroselinum hortense. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1983;80:2591-2593

Cable Robotic 3D-printing: additive manufacturing on the construction site

This paper outlines an important step in characterizing a novel field of robotic construction research where a cable-driven parallel robot is used to extrude cementitious material in three-dimensional space, and thus offering a comprehensive new approach to computational design and construction, and to robotic fabrication at larger scales. Developed by the Faculty of Art and Design at Bauhaus-University Weimar (Germany), the faculty of Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences Dortmund (Germany) and the Chair of Mechatronics at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), this approach offers unique advantages over existing additive manufacturing methods: the system is easily transportable and scalable, it does not require additional formwork or scaffolding, and it offers digital integration and informational oversight across the entire design and building process. This paper considers 1) key research components of cable robotic 3D-printing (such as computational design, material exploration, and robotic control), and 2) the integration of these parameters into a unified design and building process. The demonstration of the approach at full-scale is of particular concern