Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dirk Rommel, Matthias Mork, Sitara Vedaraman, Celine Bastard, Luis P. B. Guerzoni, Yonca Kittel, Rostislav Vinokur, Nikolai Born, Tamas Haraszti, Laura De Laporte
Summary: This work presents a two-component microgel assembly that creates a 3D macroporous construct for cell growth. The reactive microgel rods, produced through microfluidics, assemble and interlink with each other via a ring opening reaction, resulting in macroporous constructs with pores up to several hundreds of micrometers. The functionalization degree of the microgels affects the crosslinking level, as well as the mechanical and biochemical properties that influence cell adhesiveness and growth within the macroporous structure.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
M. Hildebrandt, D. Pham Thuy, J. Kippenberger, T. L. Wigger, J. E. Houston, A. Scotti, M. Karg
Summary: This article mainly introduces the use of core-shell microgels as model colloids to study fluid-solid transitions induced by temperature changes. The structures of the liquid phase and the solid phase, as well as the osmotic deswelling phenomenon, are determined using methods such as absorbance spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Indong Jun, Hyunki Cho, Sebastian E. Amos, Youngjun Choi, Yu Suk Choi, Chang Seon Ryu, Sang-Ah Lee, Dong-Wook Han, Hyung-Seop Han, Ji Hun Yang, Hyun-Woo Jeong, Honghyun Park, Young Jun Kim
Summary: The disruption of thyroid hormones due to chemical exposure is a significant societal problem. Recent breakthroughs in biotechnology have allowed for the evaluation of potential toxicity of chemicals using 3D cell cultures. This study focuses on the interactive effects of thyroid-friendly soft (TS) microspheres on thyroid cell aggregates and evaluates their potential as a reliable toxicity assessment tool.
Article
Biophysics
Anuja S. Kulkarni, Savita R. Tapase, Kisan M. Kodam, Vaishali S. Shinde
Summary: Stimuli responsive curcumin loaded microgels based on Pluronic F-127 were developed, showing affinity for hydrophobic drug release, pH and temperature-dependent properties, and dose-dependent inhibition of MDA-MB-231 cell growth with effective IC50 value of 3.8 +/- 0.2 mu g mL(-1) after 24 hours. These microgels offer additional advantages over conventional drug therapies for cancer treatment.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Duy T. Nguyen, Jack E. Famiglietti, Ryan A. Smolchek, Zadia Dupee, Nickolas Diodati, Diego Pedro, Juan M. Uruena, Matthew A. Schaller, W. Gregory Sawyer
Summary: A new cell culture platform has been developed, which utilizes a pump-free suction device for controlled perfusion of cell culture media, leading to more physiologically relevant cell culture models. This platform has demonstrated versatile applications, including the culture of cellular spheroids and the maintenance of tissue microexplants with high viability and prolonged contractility.
Article
Polymer Science
Jiajie Zhang, Letian Zheng, Zhujian Wu, Lian Wang, Yongjin Li
Summary: This study reports the development of a novel actuator using bilayer hydrogels, which exhibit two opposite bending behaviors under the same temperature-driven process. The bilayer hydrogel also shows excellent interfacial adhesion, preventing delamination, and has broad prospects for applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wen Chen, Ying Zhang, Jyoti Kumari, Hans Engelkamp, Paul H. J. Kouwer
Summary: This paper presents a novel hybrid hydrogel composed of magnetite nanorods and a synthetic matrix that can enhance the mechanical properties of cell culture systems through magnetically-induced stiffening. The study demonstrates the potential of this hydrogel in 3D cell culture experiments by showing changes in cell morphology under the influence of a magnetic field. The results indicate that the hydrogel has unique on-demand adaptive mechanical properties suitable for cell culture applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jacopo Vialetto, Fabrizio Camerin, Shivaprakash N. Ramakrishna, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Lucio Isa
Summary: The encapsulation of a rigid core within a soft polymeric shell allows obtaining composite colloidal particles with retained functional properties. The authors investigated the interfacial morphology of these particles and identified that the core properties, shell thicknesses, and grafting density can influence their conformation. By understanding their wetting behavior, these composite particles can be designed to exhibit specific inter-particle interactions for the stabilization of interfaces and the fabrication of tailored 2D materials with functional properties.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Emily Miller, Missoury Wolff, Graham Tindall, Keturah Bethel, Bronson Lynn, Katarina Keppler, Mark C. Thies, Eric M. Davis
Summary: In this study, the influence of lignin molecular weight, lignin concentration, and accelerator concentration on the mechanical and transport properties of soft composites containing lignin, PNIPAm, and PVA was systematically investigated. The results showed that the addition of lignin significantly decreased permeability and increased Young's modulus. Furthermore, increasing lignin concentration and molecular weight improved the network structure and modified the transport properties of the thermoresponsive soft composites.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Nila C. Wu, Jose L. Cadavid, Xinzhu Tan, Simon Latour, Stefano Scaini, Priya Makhijani, Tracy L. McGaha, Laurie Ailles, Alison P. McGuigan
Summary: Tumors are heterogeneous and dynamic, making it difficult for traditional chemotherapies to target all cells. Therefore, there is a need to develop novel treatment strategies to target diverse tumor cell properties. This study introduces a 96-GLAnCE platform, which combines a 3D tumor model, patient-derived organoids, and real-time assay readouts, to identify tumor cell phenotypes and novel targets with clinical significance.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Emily Miller, Missoury Wolff, Graham Tindall, Keturah Bethel, Bronson Lynn, Katarina Keppler, Mark C. Thies, Eric M. Davis
Summary: Here, the influence of lignin molecular weight, lignin concentration, and accelerator concentration on the properties of soft composites was systematically investigated. The addition of lignin decreased permeability and increased Young's modulus. The concentration and molecular weight of lignin further improved the mechanical and transport properties of the composites.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Markus Rimann, Astrid Juengel, Sara Mousavi, Nicole Moeschlin, Maurizio Calcagni, Karin Wuertz-Kozak, Florian Brunner, Stefan Dudli, Oliver Distler, Christian Adlhart
Summary: This study demonstrated the suitability of two synthetic polymers in creating electrospun scaffolds for 3D skin cell models, with P(AN-MA) mats showing enhanced cell compatibility and infiltration compared to Pul/PVA/PAA mats.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Alisa C. Suturin, Andreas J. D. Krueger, Kathrin Neidig, Nina Klos, Nina Dolfen, Michelle Bund, Till Gronemann, Rebecca Sebers, Anna Manukanc, Ghazaleh Yazdani, Yonca Kittel, Dirk Rommel, Tamas Haraszti, Jens Koehler, Laura De Laporte
Summary: Growing millimeter-scaled functional tissue has been a challenge in tissue engineering. However, microporous annealed particles (MAPs) show promise as porous biomaterials for tissue growth. By chemically interlinking rod-shaped microgels with high aspect ratios, researchers have been able to increase the pore size and overall MAP porosity of stable scaffolds. The study demonstrates that highly porous, macroporous hydrogels can be achieved with a low volume of synthetic, high aspect ratio microgels, providing ample space for cell ingrowth and interactions.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Selin Bulut, Se-Hyeong Jung, Thomas Bissing, Florian Schmitt, Michelle Bund, Susanne Braun, Andrij Pich
Summary: In this study, highly monodisperse meso- and macroporous microgels with uniform and defined pores were synthesized using modified natural polysaccharide dextran. The size of mesopores was controlled by the concentration of dextran methacrylate chains, while the size of macropores was regulated by pH-degradable supramacromolecular nanogels as sacrificial templates.
Review
Polymer Science
Simona Argentiere, Pietro Aleardo Siciliano, Laura Blasi
Summary: Organ-on-chip devices are the new frontier in biomedical research for producing micro-organoids and tissues for drug testing and regenerative medicine. Cell-laden microgels (CLMs) are a promising tool for 3D cell culturing and on-chip generation of micro-organs, enabling the formation of tunable 3D cellular microenvironments and long-term in vitro cultures through engineering of hydrogel matrix with balanced biochemical and biophysical cues. This review provides an overview of the recent applications of CLMs in microfluidic devices for organoids formation, highlighting their roles in OOC development and future research insights.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alicja Kazek-Kesik, Agata Jakobit-Kolon, Sebastian Student, Monika Smiga-Matuszowicz, Marta Wala, Marek Lubak, Malgorzata Krok-Borkowicz, Wojciech Simka
Summary: The aim of this study was to analyze the usefulness of Sr-3(PO4)(2) as a potential antibacterial agent in fast-degradable polymer coatings. The results showed that the incorporation of Sr-3(PO4)(2) particles can significantly inhibit bacterial adhesion on the implant surface and the implant surface is cytocompatible with MG-63 cells.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY-JMR&T
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Maria Gracka, Rui Lima, Joao M. Miranda, Sebastian Student, Bartlomiej Melka, Ziemowit Ostrowski
Summary: This study aims to develop a numerical model capable of reproducing the behavior of multiphase flow in a microchannel obtained under laboratory conditions and compare two multiphase modelling techniques. The results show reasonable agreement between experiments and simulations, indicating the potential of the developed model to expedite the microchannel design process.
COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alicja Pluciennik, Aleksander Placzek, Agata Wilk, Sebastian Student, Malgorzata Oczko-Wojciechowska, Krzysztof Fujarewicz
Summary: This study investigates the impact of different data fusion strategies on molecular diagnostics of cancer, aiming to reduce the costs of diagnostic tests. The results show that data fusion can achieve similar or higher classification accuracy and reduce the dimensionality of the feature space.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ali Maruf, Malgorzata Milewska, Anna Lalik, Ilona Wandzik
Summary: This study reports the synthesis of degradable pH/reduction dual-responsive nanogels for encapsulation and targeted release of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) in conditions characteristic of the cancer microenvironment. The nanogels showed high drug loading capacity and stability in various biological media. In vitro experiments demonstrated enhanced cytotoxic effect of the DOX-loaded nanogels compared to free DOX.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Alicja Stasczak, Hanna Langer-Maciol, Karolina Widzisz, Wiktoria Sliwinska, Kinga Lucinska, Przemyslaw Wencel, Barbara Strozik, Mariusz Frackiewicz, Piotr Skupin, Dariusz Choinski, Sebastian Student
Summary: To date, the production and disposal of plastics have caused high pollution and carbon release. Bioplastics, especially polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) polymer, are considered as an environmentally friendly alternative. This study investigates efficient strategies for bioplastic production using a mixture of oil and peptone as the substrate. Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria are used for PHB accumulation in batch and continuous-flow bioreactors. Microscopic observations and laboratory essays confirm the presence of PHB and other important parameters, enabling the determination of optimal feeding strategies.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cassandra B. Higgins, Joshua A. Adams, Matthew H. Ward, Zev J. Greenberg, Malgorzata Milewska, Jiameng Sun, Yiming Zhang, Luana Chiquetto Paracatu, Qian Dong, Samuel Ballentine, Weikai Li, Ilona Wandzik, Laura G. Schuettpelz, Brian J. DeBosch
Summary: CD53 marks the nutritional and inflammatory status of hepatocytes, and its deletion can attenuate dyslipidemia and hepatic inflammatory activation. It also blocks peripheral adipose accumulation, adipose inflammation, and liver lipid accumulation. CD53 integrates inflammatory and metabolic signals in response to hepatocyte nutritional status and its blockade may be a potential therapeutic strategy for diseases involving overnutrition and inflammation.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ali Maruf, Malgorzata Milewska, Anna Lalik, Sebastian Student, Ilona Wandzik
Summary: In this study, acrylamide-based nanogels containing cationic groups and redox-sensitive crosslinkers were developed for cellular delivery of anti-miR21 (a-miR21). Successful miRNA loading was confirmed and stable miRNA release was achieved.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Ali Maruf, Malgorzata Milewska, Mate Varga, Ilona Wandzik
Summary: Trehalose, a natural disaccharide, has gained attention for its potential to induce autophagy and preserve protein integrity. However, its bioavailability is limited. Trehalose-bearing carriers, incorporating trehalose either chemically or physically, have emerged as an alternative option to improve its efficacy for various diseases.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Sylwia Waskiewicz, Ewa Langer, Monika Tannenberg, Patryk Dziendziol, Sebastian Jurczyk
Summary: New compounds as potential poly(vinyl chloride) plasticizers based on soybean oil and oligoesters of adipic acid and different glycols by one-pot transesterification are synthesized and their properties are compared with commercial products.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Biomaterials
Ali Maruf, Malgorzata Milewska, Tibor Kovacs, Mate Varga, Tibor Vellai, Anna Lalik, Sebastian Student, Olga Borges, Ilona Wandzik
Summary: This study developed stable nanogels that can sustainably release trehalose under physiological conditions and demonstrated their non-toxicity. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that these nanogels can efficiently uptake and stimulate autophagic activity.
BIOMATERIALS ADVANCES
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Malgorzata Milewska, Andrzej Milewski, Ilona Wandzik, Martina H. Stenzel
Summary: Trehalose glycopolymers have been extensively studied recently and have shown some unique properties. In order to compare their properties, researchers synthesized structurally similar glycopolymers composed of trehalose and sucrose. These glycopolymers have very low content of non-saccharide structural fragments, making their properties strongly influenced by the saccharide moieties. The study comprehensively characterized the glycopolymers, including their tendency to self-assemble, hydrolytic stabilities at different pH, and susceptibility to enzymatic hydrolysis.
