13 research outputs found
Diels–Alder Click-Based Hydrogels for Direct Spatiotemporal Postpatterning via Photoclick Chemistry
Click chemistry not only has been
applied to the design of hydrogel
scaffolds for 3D cell culture, but also is an efficient way for hydrogel
postfunctionalization and spatiotemporal patterning. To the best of
our knowledge, only azide–alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) has
been exploited by combining photoinitiated thiol–ene click
reaction to realize the 3D patterning of hydrogels. In this work,
the cyclohexene derivative, which “clicked” by functional
groups between furyl and maleimide, were successfully functionalized
by thiol-modified molecules or peptides through thiol–ene click
reaction. It illustrates a hydrogel that formed via Diels–Alder
(DA) click chemistry between furyl-modified hyaluronic acid and bimaleimide
functional PEG molecule can be allowed for the directly photoactivated
thiol–ene chemistry for hydrogel spatiotemporal patterning.
Since the cyclohexene derivatives produced by DA reaction can be employed
in all subsequent 3D network patterning by using photoclick reactions,
it suggests a new way to design and postfunctionalize all of the DA
click-based hydrogels with specific regional bioactive cues
4D Printing of Robust Hydrogels Consisted of Agarose Nanofibers and Polyacrylamide
Hydrogels
combined with complex 3D shapes and robust mechanical
properties are extremely desired soft platforms in the fields of biomaterials,
recently, 4D printing has been developed to be further shaped to form
required patterns. On the basis of the excellent thixotropy of Laponite
and the thermal-reversible sol–gel transition of agarose and
easy formation of nanofibers below 35 °C, a 4D printing hydrogel
(4D Gel) was fabricated by in situ polymerizing acrylamide in the
agarose matrix containing Laponite. The experimental results demonstrated
that Laponite played an important role in the improvement of 4D printing,
such as endowing the ink with shear-thinning behavior to extrude easily
and excellent shape stability after printing. The mechanical properties
of 4D Gel were unexpectedly higher than those of both agarose and
polyacrylamide hydrogels. The 4D Gel showed the ability to further
transform its shapes, and was used successfully to construct a whalelike
hydrogel, which opened mouth and cocked tail by treating with an external
force and then cooling, as well as the octopus like hydrogel with
waved tentacles to seem to “come alive”. This work opened
a new avenue for creating more complex architectures than 3D with
excellent properties, which is important in the macromolecule fields
for the wide applications
Effective Cell and Particle Sorting and Separation in Screen-Printed Continuous-Flow Microfluidic Devices with 3D Sidewall Electrodes
In
recent years, microfluidic dielectrophoresis (DEP) devices,
as one of the most promising tools for cell and particle sorting and
separation, are facing the bottleneck in the development of practical
products due to the high-cost yet low-yield device manufacturing via
traditional microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and the challenge
of maintaining the cell viability during DEP treatment. In this paper,
we demonstrate a facile, low-cost, and high-throughput method of constructing
continuous-flow microfluidic DEP devices via screen-printing technology.
The new device configuration and operation strategy not only facilitate
cell and particle sorting and separation using 3D electrodes as sidewalls
of microchannel but also improve cell viability by reducing the exposure
time of cells to high electrical-field gradients. Furthermore, we
propose and validate a semiempirical formula with which to simplify
the complicated calculation and plotting of DEP spectra. As a consequence,
the optimal DEP parameters and crossover frequencies can be obtained
directly using our devices instead of typical electrorotation method.
To evaluate the performance of a screen-printed continuous flow microfluidic
DEP device, a suspension containing polystyrene (PS) microspheres
and erythrocytes is used as the biosample. Our results show that a
high sorting efficiency (ca. 93%) with a high cell viability (hemolysis
ratio of <4.8%) can be achieved, indicating the excellent performance
and promising application of such devices for cell and particle sorting
and separation
Scatter plot of the modified ERR<sub><i>radon</i>, <i>i</i></sub> versus the original ERR<sub><i>radon</i>, <i>i</i></sub> in each cohort.
<p>Scatter plot of the modified ERR<sub><i>radon</i>, <i>i</i></sub> versus the original ERR<sub><i>radon</i>, <i>i</i></sub> in each cohort.</p
Modified EPA’s estimates of the lifetime lung cancer risks at various indoor radon exposure levels compared to EPA’s original estimate.
<p>Modified EPA’s estimates of the lifetime lung cancer risks at various indoor radon exposure levels compared to EPA’s original estimate.</p
Multifunctional Hydrogel with Good Structure Integrity, Self-Healing, and Tissue-Adhesive Property Formed by Combining Diels–Alder Click Reaction and Acylhydrazone Bond
Hydrogel,
as a good cartilage tissue-engineered scaffold, not only
has to possess robust mechanical property but also has to have an
intrinsic self-healing property to integrate itself or the surrounding
host cartilage. In this work a double cross-linked network (DN) was
designed and prepared by combining Diels–Alder click reaction
and acylhydrazone bond. The DA reaction maintained the hydrogel’s
structural integrity and mechanical strength in physiological environment,
while the dynamic covalent acylhydrazone bond resulted in hydrogel’s
self-healing property and controlled the on–off switch of network
cross-link density. At the same time, the aldehyde groups contained
in hydrogel further promote good integration of the hydrogel to surrounding
tissue based on aldehyde-amine Schiff-base reaction. This kind of
hydrogel has good structural integrity, autonomous self-healing, and
tissue-adhesive property and simultaneously will have a good application
in tissue engineering and tissue repair field
Enhancement of Enzymatic Activity Using Microfabricated Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Silica Hybrid Microspheres with Hierarchically Porous Architecture
In this paper, we present a novel and facile microfluidic
method to fabricate hierarchically porous polyÂ(ε-caprolactone)/silica
hybrid microspheres and further investigate in detail their performance
as enzyme carriers by three famous proteins and enzymes. Because of
the synergy effect between sol–gel process and solvent extraction
in microdroplets, hierarchically porous architecture can be formed
in situ without the use of porogens and templates. More importantly,
the surface porosity or the specific surface area of such microspheres
can be precisely tuned via adjusting the hydrolysis/condensation rate
by ammonia catalyst and thus the competition between the two above-mentioned
processes. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-bovine serum albumin, alcohol
dehydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase are immobilized via either
physical adsorption or covalent binding to evaluate the performance
of hierarchically porous microspheres as enzyme carriers. All the
qualitative and quantitative data including fluorescence images, enzymatic
activity, immobilization yield, and activity yield prove that enzymes
covalently immobilized on hierarchically porous microspheres exhibit
the optimal immobilization capacity, enzymatic activity, stability,
and reusability, which shows very promising application of such microspheres
in enzymatic catalysis
Quantitative Evaluation of Biological Reaction Kinetics in Confined Nanospaces
Evaluating the kinetics of biological
reaction occurring in confined
nanospaces is of great significance in studying the molecular biological
processes in vivo. Herein, we developed a nanochannel-based electrochemical
reactor and a kinetic model to investigate the immunological reaction
in confined nanochannels simply by the electrochemical method. As
a result, except for the reaction kinetic constant that was previously
studied, more insightful kinetic information such as the moving speed
of the antibody and the immunological reaction progress in nanochannels
were successfully revealed in a quantitative way for the first time.
This study would not only pave the investigation of molecular biological
processes in confined nanospaces but also be promising to extend to
other fields such as biological detection and clinical diagnosis
Patterning Multi-Nanostructured Poly(l‑lactic acid) Fibrous Matrices to Manipulate Biomolecule Distribution and Functions
Precise manipulation
of biomolecule distribution and functions via biomolecule–matrix
interaction is very important and challenging for tissue engineering
and regenerative medicine. As a well-known biomimetic matrix, electrospun
fibers often lack the unique spatial complexity compared to their
natural counterparts in vivo and thus cannot deliver fully the regulatory
cues to biomolecules. In this paper, we report a facile and reliable
method to fabricate micro- and nanostructured polyÂ(l-lactic
acid) (PLLA) fibrous matrices with spatial complexity by a combination
of advanced electrospinning and agarose hydrogel stamp-based micropatterning.
Specifically, advanced electrospinning is used to construct multi-nanostructures
of fibrous matrices while solvent-loaded agarose hydrogel stamps are
used to create microstructures. Compared with other methods, our method
shows extreme simplicity and flexibility originated from the mono-/multi-spinneret
conversion and limitless micropatterns of agarose hydrogel stamps.
Three types of PLLA fibrous matrices including patterned nano-Ag/PLLA
hybrid fibers, patterned bicompartment polyethylene terephthalate/PLLA
fibers, and patterned hollow PLLA fibers are fabricated and their
capability to manipulate biomolecule distribution and functions, that
is, bacterial distribution and antibacterial performance, cell patterning
and adhesion/spreading behaviors, and protein adsorption and delivery,
is demonstrated in detail. The method described in our paper provides
a powerful tool to restore spatial complexity in biomimetic matrices
and would have promising applications in the field of biomedical engineering
miR-29b-Loaded Gold Nanoparticles Targeting to the Endoplasmic Reticulum for Synergistic Promotion of Osteogenic Differentiation
Precise
control of stem cells, such as human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal
stem cells (hMSCs), is critical for the development of effective cellular
therapies for tissue engineering and regeneration medicine. Emerging
evidence suggests that several miRNAs act as key regulators of diverse
biological processes, including differentiation of various stem cells.
In this study, we have described a delivery system for miR-29b using
PEI-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to synergistically promote osteoblastic
differentiation. The cell proliferation assay revealed that AuNPs
and AuNPs/miR-29b exert negligible cytotoxicity to hMSCs and MC3T3-E1
cells. With the assistance of AuNPs as a delivery vector, miR-29b
could efficiently enter the cytoplasm and regulate osteogenesis. AuNPs/miR-29b
more effectively promoted osteoblast differentiation and mineralization
through induced the expression of osteogenesis genes (RUNX2, OPN,
OCN, ALP) for the long-term, compared to the widely used commercial
transfection reagent, Lipofectamine. With no obvious cytotoxicity,
PEI-capped AuNPs showed great potential as an adequate miRNA vector
for osteogenesis differentiation. Interestingly, we observed loading
of AuNPs as well as AuNPs/miR-29b into the lumen of the endoplasmic
reticulum (ER). Our findings collectively suggest that AuNPs, together
with miR-29b, exert a synergistic promotory effect on osteogenic differentiation
of hMSCs and MC3T3-E1 cells