Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dimitra Kourti, Anastasia Kanioura, Theodore Manouras, Maria Vamvakaki, Panagiotis Argitis, Margarita Chatzichristidi, Sotirios Kakabakos, Panagiota Petrou
Summary: This study synthesized a polymer with guided cell adhesion and growth functionality and successfully developed a method to create stripe patterns on silicon substrates using photolithography. Smooth muscle cells grown on these patterned substrates exhibited a contractile phenotype, indicating the influence of patterned substrates on cell phenotype.
MACROMOLECULAR BIOSCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liqun Luo
Summary: While individual neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system, they function by collaborating in neuronal circuits with specific patterns of synaptic connectivity. Understanding how these circuits assemble and evolve can help bridge the gap between individual neuron biology and brain function, leading to insights into neural computations and behavior.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Shengying Fan, Lei Qi, Jiawen Li, Deng Pan, Yiyuan Zhang, Rui Li, Cong Zhang, Dong Wu, Pakming Lau, Yanlei Hu, Guoqiang Bi, Weiping Ding, Jiaru Chu
Summary: The patterning of axonal and dendritic growth is crucial for generating directed neuronal networks in vitro. 3D micropillar scaffolds can guide the growth of neural stem cells and hippocampal neurons, affecting branching and orientation of axons and dendrites. Neurons tend to form functionally connected networks on arrays of micropillars of the same height, showing synchronous neuronal activity.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Kesheng Xu, Jean Paul Maidana, Patricio Orio
Summary: The coexistence of electrical and chemical synaptic communication among excitatory cells has been confirmed, but the theoretical understanding of hybrid synaptic connections in various dynamical states of neural networks is not fully studied. A neural network model including electrical and chemical synaptic connections was used to investigate synchronization and firing patterns among excitatory cells, revealing tendencies towards synchronization and the ability to cause various firing patterns by slightly changing the synaptic weights. This study lays a foundation for understanding the computational significance of mixed synapse in neural functions.
NONLINEAR DYNAMICS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Angela Rodriguez-Prieto, Ana Gonzalez-Manteiga, Yaiza Dominguez-Canterla, Carmen Navarro-Gonzalez, Pietro Fazzari
Summary: The described experimental paradigm provides an approachable, affordable, and effective in vitro model of neurotoxicity, which can be suitable for testing the roles of specific genes and pathways in live imaging and for high-throughput drug screening.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kai Zhou, Xiao Yan, Seung J. Oh, Gabriela Padilla-Rivera, Hyunjung A. Kim, Donald M. Cropek, Nenad Miljkovic, Lili Cai
Summary: Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) has the potential to reduce energy demand and mitigate global warming. However, practical applications are limited by surface contamination from dust and bacteria buildup. In this study, a hierarchically patterned nanoporous composite (HPNC) is developed to integrate PDRC materials with self-cleaning and antibacterial functions. The HPNC design enables simultaneous optimization of different characteristic length scales and achieves significant temperature reduction for outdoor personal and building cooling. Additionally, the HPNC design includes a microscale pillar array pattern and surface coating of photocatalytic agents, providing self-cleaning and antisoiling effects to mitigate surface contamination. This scalable and multifunctional design offers a promising solution for practical PDRC applications with minimal maintenance needs.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Ian S. Kinstlinger, Gisele A. Calderon, Madison K. Royse, A. Kristen Means, Bagrat Grigoryan, Jordan S. Miller
Summary: The research describes how to fabricate and assemble customizable open-source tissue perfusion chambers, and successfully catheterize tissue constructs; endothelial cells are seeded along the luminal surfaces of the tissue constructs and connected to fluid pumping equipment; enabling various experimental designs, the protocol is expected to promote the adoption and standardization of perfusion tissue culture methods.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Chiara Barberio, Janire Saez, Aimee Withers, Malavika Nair, Francesco Tamagnini, Roisin M. Owens
Summary: 3D cell culture formats closely resemble tissue architecture complexity and offer better cell-cell and cell-microenvironment interactions compared to 2D systems. Scaffold-based systems with natural biomaterials can improve cell survival and growth by mimicking the chemical and physical cues of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM).
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Iskenderbek Elchiev, Gokhan Demirci, Miroslawa El Fray
Summary: Photocurable biomaterials that can be rapidly cured using UV light are becoming popular in advanced medical applications. By modifying the structure of coumarin and combining it with a bio-based fatty acid dimer derivative, we designed a dynamic network that can crosslink and re-crosslink under variable wave lengths of UV light. This biomaterial can be injected and cured in situ upon UV light exposure, making it suitable for future medical applications.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sofia Zelleroth, Erik Nylander, Axel Ortenblad, Frida Stam, Fred Nyberg, Alfhild Gronbladh, Mathias Hallberg
Summary: The study revealed that anabolic androgenic steroids have adverse effects on neurite development, with trenbolone showing the most significant impact on cell viability and mitochondrial function. These effects were not inhibited by the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide, suggesting that there may be other mechanisms at play aside from AR activation.
JOURNAL OF STEROID BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Antonio Torres-Mendez, Sinziana Pop, Sophie Bonnal, Isabel Almudi, Alida Avola, Ruairi J. Roberts, Chiara Paolantoni, Ana Alcaina-Caro, Ane Martin-Anduaga, Irmgard U. Haussmann, Violeta Morin, Fernando Casares, Matthias Soller, Sebastian Kadener, Jean-Yves Roignant, Lucia Prieto-Godino, Manuel Irimia
Summary: Alternative splicing increases transcriptomic complexity of neurons throughout animal evolution. The neuronal microexon program in Drosophila and mammals exhibit differences, but both are involved in neuronal activity and ion channels.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Hui Che, Mischa Selig, Bernd Rolauffs
Summary: This review explores the potential therapeutic applications and successful control of various cell functions through micro-patterning. It provides comprehensive summaries of established micro-pattern designs and fabrication technologies, and suggests a quality evaluation score.
ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pei Lyu, Xiangyi Zhang, Mengyuan Peng, Bin Shang, Xin Liu
Summary: This study presents a facile strategy to fabricate a wettable patterned slippery surface (WPSS) inspired by desert beetles and Nepenthes pitcher, capable of rapidly nucleating and removing water droplets.
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Antonela Petrovic, Jelena Ban, Ivana Tomljanovic, Marta Pongrac, Matea Ivanicic, Sanja Mikasinovic, Miranda Mladinic
Summary: Researchers have successfully established and characterized primary dissociated neuronal cultures derived from the cortex of gray South American short-tailed opossums, which can survive for over a month. They also established mixed cultures including RGCs, as well as cultures composed of neurons, astrocytes, and microglia.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Ines A. Deus, Sara C. Santos, Catarina A. Custodio, Joao F. Mano
Summary: In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the development of biomaterials, with a focus on increasing the clinical relevance of 3D systems and avoiding the use of animals. This study reports the chemical modification of human amniotic membrane proteins to produce bioinks and hydrogel precursors for customizable platforms that replicate native tissues and support long-term cell culture.
BIOMATERIALS ADVANCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Leroy Grob, Philipp Rinklin, Sabine Zips, Dirk Mayer, Sabrina Weidlich, Korkut Terkan, Lennart J. K. Weiss, Nouran Adly, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Bernhard Wolfrum
Summary: Recent investigations into cardiac or nervous tissues require 3D electrical recording, leading to the fabrication of 3D microelectrode arrays using additive manufacturing technology. The user-defined 3D electrodes were produced by adjusting the number of deposited silver nanoparticle ink droplets. The functionality of the array was confirmed through impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and recordings of extracellular potentials from HL-1 cells.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ali Mohammad Pourshahidi, Stefan Achtsnicht, Mrinal Murali Nambipareechee, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Hans-Joachim Krause
Summary: Magnetic immunoassays using Frequency Mixing Magnetic Detection (FMMD) are increasingly popular for quantitative detection of analytes. Different types of magnetic beads can be distinguished by their response to magnetic excitation at different magnetic offset fields. By analyzing binary mixtures of magnetic particles, accurate mixing ratios can be determined with greater than 14% accuracy, enabling multiplex detection of different analytes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kagithiri Srikantharajah, Renata Medinaceli Quintela, Kerstin Doerenkamp, Bjoern M. Kampa, Simon Musall, Markus Rothermel, Andreas Offenhaeusser
Summary: Chronic implantation of flexible neural probes in the mouse brain proved successful in detecting long-term brain activity. By reducing the effective shank length and improving the insertion system, acute trauma was minimized and detection efficiency was enhanced.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Antonio Minopoli, Emanuela Scardapane, Bartolomeo Della Ventura, Julian A. Tanner, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Dirk Mayer, Raffaele Velotta
Summary: A novel double-resonant plasmonic substrate for fluorescence amplification in a chip-based apta-immunoassay was reported. The substrate relies on the plasmon-enhanced fluorescence (PEF) effect to amplify the fluorescence signal. It can potentially be used for multiplexing applications. In a malaria apta-immunoassay, the substrate successfully detected Plasmodium falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) in human whole blood with high sensitivity and without complex pretreatments.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Gabriela Figueroa-Miranda, Song Chen, Marc Neis, Lei Zhou, Yuting Zhang, Young Lo, Julian Alexander Tanner, Andrea Kreidenweiss, Andreas Offenhausser, Dirk Mayer
Summary: Malaria remains highly prevalent in tropical and developing countries, prompting the need for affordable and highly sensitive malaria tests. A new multi-target aptasensor has been developed to discriminate between different malaria parasites and shows promising results in detecting and differentiating Plasmodium infections, offering potential as a disposable point-of-care test.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS B-CHEMICAL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pegah Shokoohimehr, Bogdana Cepkenovic, Frano Milos, Justus Bednar, Hossein Hassani, Vanessa Maybeck, Andreas Offenhaeusser
Summary: The further development of neurochips requires high-density and high-resolution recordings over a long period of time. A combination of vertical nanostraws with nanocavities is proposed, allowing tight coupling with neurons and achieving high sensitivity and synaptic resolution in recording.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Annika Kempmann, Thomas Gensch, Andreas Offenhausser, Irina Tihaa, Vanessa Maybeck, Sabine Balfanz, Arnd Baumann
Summary: Calcium ions play a crucial role in physiology and cellular signaling. Genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECI) have opened new avenues for studying calcium-driven processes in living cells and organisms. By modifying the protein sequence, these indicators can be localized to different cellular compartments and used to trace calcium signals at the (sub)-cellular level.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yunong Zhang, David Kudriashov, Liubov Pershina, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Yulia Mourzina
Summary: This study investigates the intrinsic multienzyme-like properties of manganese-doped Prussian blue nanocrystalline nanoparticles (Mn-PB nanozymes) and Prussian blue (PB) nanozymes in chemical and electrocatalytic transformations of reactive oxygen species, and discusses the effect of manganese doping on the structural, biomimetic, and electrocatalytic properties of cyano-bridged assemblies.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Seok-Rae Park, Younghwan Han, Su Jeong Lee, Ki-Il Lee
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for rhinosinusitis. The results showed that LLLT significantly improved tissue inflammation, sinus opacification, and cytokine expression, indicating that LLLT is an effective treatment option for rhinosinusitis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ali Mohammad Pourshahidi, Stefan Achtsnicht, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Hans-Joachim Krause
Summary: Frequency mixing magnetic detection (FMMD) has potential applications in magnetic biosensing, multiplex detection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNP), and determination of core size distribution of MNP samples. This study introduces a measurement head using ring-shaped permanent magnets and a steel cylinder to generate a static offset magnetic field. The setup offers advantages in terms of portability compared to traditional electromagnet setups, which require a current source and cooling strategies.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Angelica Dominguez-Aragon, Erasto Armando Zaragoza-Contreras, Gabriela Figueroa-Miranda, Andreas Offenhausser, Dirk Mayer
Summary: A novel sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor was developed for the quantitative detection of carcinoembryonic antigen, a significant tumor marker. The immobilization of antibodies was achieved through Au-S bonds using a novel photochemical technique, allowing control over antibody orientation. The SWCNH/Thi/AuNPs nanocomposite acted as a signal tag for detection and signal amplification. The immunoassay demonstrated a linear detection range from 0.001-200 ng/mL with a low detection limit of 0.1385 pg/mL. Carbon nanohorns hold promise as a conductive and binding matrix for signal amplification in clinical diagnostics.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Ziheng Hu, Ruifeng Zhu, Gabriela Figueroa-Miranda, Lei Zhou, Lingyan Feng, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Dirk Mayer
Summary: This study presents an electrochemical aptasensor for highly sensitive and selective serotonin (ST) detection, based on truncated DNA aptamers and a polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecule-functionalized sensing interface. The aptasensor shows improved sensitivity and enhanced antifouling ability due to the small size and stable structure of the truncated aptamers, as well as the blocking effect of PEG molecules. The sensor exhibits a wide detection range and low limit of detection, and also demonstrates high selectivity and stability in detecting ST in human serum and artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF).
Article
Biophysics
Yuanying Liang, Gabriela Figueroa-Miranda, Julian Alexander Tanner, Fei Huang, Andreas Offenhaeusser, Dirk Mayer
Summary: In this research, integrated organic electrochemical transistors (iOECTs) with different channel geometries were designed for point-of-care diagnosis of malaria using aptamer as receptor. The experiment showed that iOECTs with thin channels exhibited superior sensitivity for malaria detection, with a detection limit as low as 3.2 aM.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Ki-Il Lee, Younghwan Han, Jae-Sung Ryu, Seung Min In, Jong-Yeup Kim, Joong Su Park, Jong-Seok Kim, Juhye Kim, Jubin Youn, Seok-Rae Park
Summary: Tobacco smoking has been found to contribute to the alteration of immunological response in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), leading to the deterioration of the disease. The study revealed that smoking upregulated the expression of epithelial-derived cytokines and Th2 cytokines, resulting in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and increased serum IgE levels.
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Frano Milos, Andreea Belu, Dirk Mayer, Vanessa Maybeck, Andreas Offenhaeusser
Summary: This study demonstrates that substrates with defined topographic cues can improve neuronal development and potentially serve as tissue engineering scaffolds by mimicking the complex extracellular environment. Higher nanopillars effectively confine growing neurites, promoting better alignment to the topographical pattern, resulting in longer axons. The nanopillars also induce earlier axon establishment and change the periodicity of growth cone dynamics, leading to longer axons compared to flat substrates.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Aline Silva da Cruz, Maria Margarida Drehmer, Wagner Baetas-da-Cruz, Joao Carlos Machado
Summary: This study quantified microcirculation cerebral blood flow in a rat model of ischemic stroke using ultrasound biomicroscopy and ultrasound contrast agents. The results showed high sensitivity and specificity of this method, making it a valuable tool for preclinical studies.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Christina Dalla, Ivana Jaric, Pavlina Pavlidi, Georgia E. Hodes, Nikolaos Kokras, Anton Bespalov, Martien J. Kas, Thomas Steckler, Mohamed Kabbaj, Hanno Wuerbel, Jordan Marrocco, Jessica Tollkuhn, Rebecca Shansky, Debra Bangasser, Jill B. Becker, Margaret McCarthy, Chantelle Ferland-Beckham
Summary: Many funding agencies have emphasized the importance of considering sex as a biological variable in experimental design to improve the reproducibility and translational relevance of preclinical research. Omitting the female sex from experimental designs in neuroscience and pharmacology can result in biased or limited understanding of disease mechanisms. This article provides methodological considerations for incorporating sex as a biological variable in in vitro and in vivo experiments, including the influence of age and hormone levels, and proposes strategies to enhance methodological rigor and translational relevance in preclinical research.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Wenyu Gu, Dongxu Li, Jia-Hong Gao
Summary: We developed a precise and rapid method for positioning and labelling triaxial OPMs on a wearable magnetoencephalography (MEG) system, improving the efficiency of OPM positioning and labelling.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Kai Lin, Linhang Zhang, Jing Cai, Jiaqi Sun, Wenjie Cui, Guangda Liu
Summary: The article introduces an EEG feature map processing model for emotion recognition, which achieves significantly improved accuracy by fusing EEG information at different spatial scales and introducing a channel attention mechanism.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
John E. Parker, Asier Aristieta, Aryn H. Gittis, Jonathan E. Rubin
Summary: This work presents a toolbox that implements a methodology for automated classification of neural responses based on spike train recordings. The toolbox provides a user-friendly and efficient approach to detect various types of neuronal responses that may not be identified by traditional methods.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yun Liang, Ke Bo, Sreenivasan Meyyappan, Mingzhou Ding
Summary: This study compared the performance of SVM and CNN on the same datasets and found that CNN achieved consistently higher classification accuracies. The classification accuracies of SVM and CNN were generally not correlated, and the heatmaps derived from them did not overlap significantly.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Antonino Visalli, Maria Montefinese, Giada Viviani, Livio Finos, Antonino Vallesi, Ettore Ambrosini
Summary: This study introduces an analytical strategy that allows the use of mixed-effects models (LMM) in mass univariate analyses of EEG data. The proposed method overcomes the computational costs and shows excellent performance properties, making it increasingly important in the field of neuroscience.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Xavier Cano-Ferrer, Alexandra Tran -Van -Minh, Ede Rancz
Summary: This study developed a novel rotation platform for studying neural processes and spatial navigation. The platform is modular, affordable, and easy to build, and can be driven by the experimenter or animal movement. The research demonstrated the utility of the platform, which combines the benefits of head fixation and intact vestibular activity.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS
(2024)
