Article
Cell Biology
Ravi Abishek Bharadhwaj, Regalla Kumarswamy
Summary: This study reveals a novel role for the lncRNA TUG1 in modulating SMC differentiation via the KLF4-myocardin axis, which may have potential implications in AAA development.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Saneth Gavishka Sellahewa, Jojo Yijiao Li, Qingzhong Xiao
Summary: Cardiovascular disease is a globally prevalent disease with medical and socio-economic consequences. Direct cellular reprogramming, utilizing cell plasticity to regenerate functional vasculature, holds promise as a therapeutic approach.
JOURNAL OF FUNCTIONAL BIOMATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicholas Rogozinski, Apuleyo Yanez, Rahulkumar Bhoi, Moo-Yeal Lee, Huaxiao Yang
Summary: 3D cardiac engineered constructs not only advance cardiac regenerative medicine but also enable more accurate modeling of healthy and diseased cardiac tissues. This review highlights the relationship between different cell types and advanced fabrication methods, shedding light on various pathologies and providing therapeutic potential for damaged myocardium. The future direction is focused on creating specialized and personalized constructs with region-specific microtopography and function.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mohammad H. Ghazimoradi, Kouichi Hasegawa, Ehsan Zolghadr, Samaneh Montazeri, Shirin Farivar
Summary: Researchers attempted to induce totipotent stem cells by mimicking DNA demethylation patterns of the embryo, successfully generating cells positive for Nanog and Cdx2. These cells could differentiate into pluripotent and trophoblast lineage cells in-vitro and form embryo-like structures when transferred to the uterus. This study demonstrates the importance of DNA demethylation in totipotent stem cell induction and presents a new and easy method for inducing this cell type.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Joshua S. T. Hooks, Fabrice C. Bernard, Ricardo Cruz-Acuna, Zhanna Nepiyushchikh, Yarelis Gonzalez-Vargas, Andres J. Garcia, J. Brandon Dixon
Summary: The lymphatic vasculature plays a crucial role in the body's circulation system, and studying its growth mechanisms and developing related biomaterial strategies is of great importance. Utilizing an engineered hydrogel material, the sprouting and transplantation of lymphatic vessels can be facilitated, providing a promising platform for further research on lymphangiogenesis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Javad Harati, Kun Liu, Hosein Shahsavarani, Ping Du, Massimiliano Galluzzi, Ke Deng, Jei Mei, Hsien-Yeh Chen, Shahin Bonakdar, Behrouz Aflatoonian, Guoqiang Hou, Yingjie Zhu, Haobo Pan, Raymond C. B. Wong, Mohammad Ali Shokrgozar, Weihong Song, Peng-Yuan Wang
Summary: This study demonstrates that a customized pattern, colloidal self-assembled patterns (cSAPs), can enhance the efficiency of direct neuronal reprogramming of human fibroblasts into induced neurons (iNs) and modulate the ratio of iN subtypes. It also reveals that distinct cSAPs can induce differences in cell morphology, signaling pathways, and chromatin remodeling.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qianqian Wang, Jiafang Wang, Elmira Tokhtaeva, Zhen Li, Martin G. Martin, Xuefeng B. Ling, James C. Y. Dunn
Summary: The study presents the development of a living intestinal muscle patch capable of generating different motility patterns and multiple digesta manipulations. It is shown that the successful generation of the contracting muscle patch requires both biological factors and cues from the scaffold. The findings highlight the importance of combining biomolecular and biomaterial approaches for tissue engineering, providing a more physiological model for studying gastrointestinal motility and drug discovery.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Khaled M. A. Abdel-Raouf, Rachid Rezgui, Cesare Stefanini, Jeremy C. M. Teo, Nicolas Christoforou
Summary: Engineered human skeletal muscle tissue is a valuable tool for studying human physiology, pharmacology, and disease modeling, but challenges remain in cell sourcing and achieving proper physiological architecture. By optimizing transdifferentiation and screening protein ligands, successful assembly of engineered skeletal muscle constructs was achieved. Future directions include evaluating the functional characteristics of these tissues.
Article
Andrology
Xiongcai Zhou, Chao Luo, Junhong Fan, Guangqian Gao, Tao Wang, Haibo Zhang, Anyang Wei
Summary: This study investigated the mechanism of phenotypic transformation of corporal cavernosum smooth muscle cells (CCSMCs) under hypoxic conditions. The results showed that HIF-1 alpha and Myocd played important roles in the phenotypic modulation of CCSMCs. Myocd overexpression could inhibit the phenotypic switch induced by hypoxia, suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target for erectile dysfunction under hypoxia or HIF-1 alpha activation.
WORLD JOURNAL OF MENS HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ariel A. Szklanny, Majd Machour, Idan Redenski, Vaclav Chochola, Idit Goldfracht, Ben Kaplan, Mark Epshtein, Haneen Simaan Yameen, Uri Merdler, Adam Feinberg, Dror Seliktar, Netanel Korin, Josef Jaros, Shulamit Levenberg
Summary: Creating engineered hierarchical vasculatures is crucial for implantable functional thick tissues. This study introduces a combined approach using millimetric vessel-like scaffolds and 3D bioprinted vascularized tissues to achieve fully engineered hierarchical vascular constructs for implantation. The use of sacrificial molds, endothelial cells, and vascularizing hydrogels enables the formation of functional vessels within the engineered tissue, promoting tissue perfusion and host vasculature ingrowth.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jingyi Wang, Shiling Chen, Chao Pan, Gaigai Li, Zhouping Tang
Summary: This review discusses the use of small molecules to directly reprogram somatic cells into neurons for the treatment of neurological diseases. The mechanisms of action of different small molecules, methods to screen small molecule cocktails, and approaches to detect their reprogramming efficiency are discussed. Future research efforts should focus on investigating the in vivo mechanisms of small molecule-mediated neuronal reprogramming under pathophysiological conditions, optimizing screening cocktails and dosing regimens, and identifying safe and effective delivery routes to promote neural regeneration in different neurological diseases.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Kunzhe Dong, Jian Shen, Xiangqin He, Guoqing Hu, Liang Wang, Islam Osman, Kristopher M. Bunting, Rachael Dixon-Melvin, Zeqi Zheng, Hongbo Xin, Meixiang Xiang, Almira Vazdarjanova, David J. R. Fulton, Jiliang Zhou
Summary: CARMN is a highly conserved SMC-specific long noncoding RNA that plays a crucial role in maintaining the contractile phenotype of VSMCs, and it is the first noncoding RNA discovered to interact with myocardin.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Inseon Kim, Seunghun S. Lee, Adhideb Ghosh, Stephen J. Ferguson, Ori Bar-Nur
Summary: This study presents an engineered biomimetic muscle construct that can self-regenerate and produce aligned myotubes using induced myogenic progenitor cells. The construct faithfully recapitulates a step-wise myogenic differentiation program and can rapidly differentiate into aligned myotubes within the constructs when subjected to a damaging myonecrotic agent. This work showcases the potential for translational applicability in regenerative medicine.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sebastian L. Wild, David Tosh
Summary: Transdifferentiation involves reprogramming cells to switch from one differentiated cell type to another, holding great promise for regenerative medicine. By understanding how transcription factors regulate cellular identity, therapeutic cell types can be generated more effectively. Techniques like transdifferentiation play a crucial role in the conversion of hepatocytes to pancreatic beta-cells.
BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alvaro Yogi, Marina Rukhlova, Claudie Charlebois, Ganghong Tian, Danica B. Stanimirovic, Maria J. Moreno
Summary: The study found that VSMCs differentiated from adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) show potential for populating PET-based vascular scaffolds. By shortening the differentiation period and studying the role of downstream effectors of TGF-beta, the process was stabilized. The non-woven PET structure did not affect ASC differentiation, providing a novel alternative to address issues with long-term patency of vascular grafts.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Yawen Ma, Huimin Lin, Peng Wang, Haocheng Yang, Jie Yu, Hao Tian, Tianyu Li, Shengfang Ge, Yilong Wang, Renbing Jia, Kam W. Leong, Jing Ruan
Summary: MicroRNA-based gene therapy using biocompatible nanocarriers shows promise in treating ocular melanoma by up-regulating tumor suppressor miR-30a-5p and inhibiting malignant phenotypes. The nanocarrier with high miRNA loading and redox-responsive release capabilities enhances the therapeutic effect. Furthermore, it promotes M1 macrophage polarization and activates Fenton reaction, synergistically enhancing anti-tumor immunity. The study demonstrates the potential of this nanocarrier for targeted gene therapy in melanoma and other cancers.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jiaqi Xu, Junchao Xu, Tongfei Shi, Yinlong Zhang, Fangman Chen, Chao Yang, Xinjing Guo, Guangna Liu, Dan Shao, Kam W. Leong, Guangjun Nie
Summary: Microbiota-based therapeutics offer innovative strategies to treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), but the clinical outcome and bacterial approach need improvement. Inspired by the benefits of probiotics, bioartificial probiotics are designed to restore intestinal microenvironment and shift the gut microbiome to an anti-inflammatory state. The bioartificial probiotic consists of E. coli Nissle 1917-derived membrane (EM) as the surface and biodegradable diselenide-bridged mesoporous silica nanoparticles (SeM) as the core. This work suggests a safe and effective nanomedicine for IBDs therapy.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Baoding Huang, Qianfen Wan, Tianyu Li, Lexiang Yu, Wen Du, Carmen Calhoun, Kam W. Leong, Li Qiang
Summary: As a solution to the chronic inflammation and local adiposity caused by obesity, cationic polyamidoamine (PAMAM) treatment has shown promising results in improving metabolic functions and reducing body weight in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. The treatment involves the use of PAMAM generation 3 (P-G3) scavenger and complexing P-G3 with human serum albumin (HSA) to achieve sustained release. Local injection of HSA-PG3 successfully restricts the distribution of the complex within the targeted adipose tissue and reduces focal adiposity.
Article
Biophysics
Zaozao Chen, Jie Huang, Jing Zhang, Zikang Xu, Qiwei Li, Jun Ouyang, Yuchuan Yan, Shiqi Sun, Huan Ye, Fei Wang, Jianfeng Zhu, Zhangyan Wang, Jie Chao, Yuepu Pu, Zhongze Gu
Summary: Creating a biomimetic in vitro lung model is an important and challenging task for biomedical researchers. The existing cell culture models lack certain key physiological conditions, but this newly developed lung physiological system can simulate infection and inflammatory reactions and integrate multiple immune cells. Additionally, a microdroplet/aerosol transmission system has been designed and a deep-learning algorithm has been employed to study cell activation.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Naoto Yoshinaga, Joyce K. Zhou, Cong Xu, Chai Hoon Quek, Yuefei Zhu, Ding Tang, Lin Yung Hung, Sarah A. Najjar, Chin Ying Angela Shiu, Kara Gross Margolis, Yeh-Hsing Lao, Kam W. Leong
Summary: Effective delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 components is crucial and oral delivery has not been explored due to the degradative nature of the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, we developed novel PBA-functionalized CS-PEI polymers for oral CRISPR delivery, which showed effective penetration in the intestinal mucosa and achieved downregulation of the target protein and reduction in cholesterol. This study demonstrates the potential of addressing the needs of gene editing in a patient-compliant manner.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Ganchimeg Davaa, Jin Young Hong, Jung-Hwan Lee, Min Soo Kim, Jennifer O. Buitrago, Yu-Meng Li, Hae-Hyoung Lee, Dong Wook Han, Kam W. Leong, Jung Keun Hyun, Hae-Won Kim
Summary: Neural stem cells (NSC) have the potential to regenerate injured neural tissues, but suffer from low survival and uncontrolled differentiation. This study demonstrates that mechanically-tuned protein hydrogels can protect and enhance the long-term survival of reprogrammed NSC, alleviate neural inflammation, promote differentiation, and improve locomotor functions in treating injured spinal cord.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Jian Li, Weicheng Liang, Zaozao Chen, Xingyu Li, Pan Gu, Anna Liu, Pin Chen, Qiwei Li, Xueyin Mei, Jing Yang, Jun Liu, Lincao Jiang, Zhongze Gu
Summary: Organs-on-a-chip is a microfluidic microphysiological system that analyzes the structure and function of living human cells at the tissue and organ levels in vitro. We created an organs-on-a-chip database (OOCDB) to integrate information about organs-on-a-chip from various sources and provide researchers with a comprehensive and convenient search engine.
GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Yunfei Li, Zhixiong Sun, Huixiang Zhu, Yan Sun, David B. Shteyman, Sander Markx, Kam W. Leong, Bin Xu, Bingmei M. Fu
Summary: The integrity of the blood-brain barrier formed by brain microvascular endothelial cells derived from 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome patients is compromised. The haploinsufficiency of CRKL, a gene within the 22q11.2 DS deletion region, contributes to this deficit. Treatment with imatinib, an FDA-approved drug, restores the compromised blood-brain barrier by increasing the level of active forms of the CRKL protein.
Article
Optics
Xiang Zhong, Chao Gao, Hui Li, Yuening He, Peng Fei, Zaozao Chen, Zhongze Gu, Dan Zhu, Tingting Yu
Summary: Three-dimensional cell cultures have bridged the gap between monolayers and animal models in biological research. A modified optical clearing method called MACS-W was proposed to address the limitations of tissue optical clearing methods. MACS-W showed excellent clearing capability in just 10 minutes with minimal deformation and was useful for drug evaluation on tumor spheroids.
JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE OPTICAL HEALTH SCIENCES
(2023)
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Qiao Zhang, Ren-Zhi Zhan, Marisa Patsy, Binjie Li, Yifan Chen, Barbara D. Lipes, Nenad Bursac, George A. Truskey
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Hye Sung Kim, Tzu-Chieh Ho, Moshe J. Willner, Michael W. Becker, Hae-Won Kim, Kam W. Leong
Summary: In this study, we propose an ex vivo T cell expansion system that mimics natural antigen-presenting cells for adoptive cell therapy. The system utilizes microfiber scaffolds coated with dendritic cell membrane to replicate the physicochemical properties of dendritic cells, leading to greater expansion and functionality of T cells. This scalable and customizable platform holds promise for future research and application in cell therapy.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
George A. Truskey
Summary: Computational biomechanics, when combined with advanced imaging techniques, can provide detailed patient-specific information for diagnosing and assessing treatments. However, challenges remain in terms of errors and missing information in patient data, computational requirements, and uncertainties in boundary conditions. This review discusses the use of deep learning to address these challenges and integrate large data sets and computational methods for real-time clinical information.
BIOENGINEERING-BASEL
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Xuan Du, Zaozao Chen, Qiwei Li, Sheng Yang, Lincao Jiang, Yi Yang, Yanhui Li, Zhongze Gu
Summary: Organoids are cells that grow in a 3D environment and share similar structures with their source organs. Artificial intelligence technology can improve the efficiency and accuracy of organoid analysis, but current machine learning methods have limitations and challenges.
BIO-DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yongqiang Xiao, He Fang, Yuefei Zhu, Jie Zhou, Zhanzhan Dai, Hongxia Wang, Zhaofan Xia, Zhaoxu Tu, Kam W. Leong
Summary: This study investigates the effectiveness of cationic hyperbranched polyaminoglycosides derived from tobramycin (HPT) and disulfide-included HPT (ss-HPT) in scavenging cell-free nucleic acids (cfNAs) to mitigate posttrauma inflammation and hypercoagulation. Both polymers demonstrate the ability to suppress inflammation and hypercoagulation by efficiently scavenging cfNAs, and exhibit potent antibacterial effects. Additionally, these polymers exhibit favorable modulatory effects on inflammation and therapeutic outcomes in a mouse model. Notably, ss-HPT shows high accumulation and retention in injured organs of traumatized mice, with a higher biodegradation rate in healthy mice compared to HPT.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qin Fan, Huaxing Dai, Jinyu Bai, Jialu Xu, Qingle Ma, Ziying Fei, Xiaozhong Zhou, Kam W. Leong, Chao Wang
Summary: Implanted biomaterials may create an immunosuppressive microenvironment, but vitamin C treatment can alleviate this condition and reduce the risk of malignant cell survival around the implants.
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Lin-Lin Luo, Jie Xu, Bing-Qiao Wang, Chen Chen, Xi Chen, Qiu-Mei Hu, Yu-Qiu Wang, Wan-Yun Zhang, Wan-Xiang Jiang, Xin-Ting Li, Hu Zhou, Xiao Xiao, Kai Zhao, Sen Lin
Summary: A novel AAV serotype, AAVYC5, introduced in this study, showed more efficient transduction into multiple retinal layers compared to AAV2, and enabled successful delivery of anti-angiogenic molecules in mice and non-human primates.
