Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Jordi Comelles, Vanesa Fernandez-Majada, Veronica Acevedo, Beatriz Rebollo-Calderon, Elena Martinez
Summary: Topographical patterns are powerful tools for studying directional cell migration. This study investigates how substrate stiffness affects the cellular response to topographical contact guidance. The results show that both matrix stiffening and alignment of extracellular matrix fibers play a role in directional cell migration, with different outcomes depending on cell type and cytoskeleton organization.
MATERIALS TODAY BIO
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Deteng Zhang, Ziming Li, Haifei Shi, Yuejun Yao, Wang Du, Pan Lu, Kejiong Liang, Liangjie Hong, Changyou Gao
Summary: This study demonstrates the synergistic role of both surface topographical features and biochemical cues in tissue regeneration by combining them onto a biodegradable scaffold. The results show that the nerve guidance conduit with micropatterns and peptide gradient can accelerate nerve regeneration, reduce fibrosis, and promote macrophage polarization and vascularization.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gen Honda, Nen Saito, Taihei Fujimori, Hidenori Hashimura, Mitsuru J. Nakamura, Akihiko Nakajima, Satoshi Sawai
Summary: Through quantitative image analysis of Dictyostelium on microfabricated surfaces, it was found that the macropinocytic membrane cup is a distinct mode of topographical guidance driven by the Ras/PI3K/F-actin signaling patch, showing unique responses to micrometer-scale topographical features. This topographical guidance differs from previously known guidance mechanisms that depend on nanometer-scale curvature sensing proteins or stress fibers.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Huinan Lai, Bo Gong, Jun Yin, Jin Qian
Summary: This review discusses the use of 3D printing technology to fabricate topographic cues for cell contact guidance. It covers typical 3D printing technologies, cellular responses on 3D printing topographic cues, and the mechanisms of contact guidance on cell outgrowth. The major challenges and future perspectives in this field are also discussed.
MATERIALS & DESIGN
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Junhui Sun, Xin Zhang, Shiyu Du, Jibin Pu, Yang Wang, Yanping Yuan, Linmao Qian, Joseph S. Francisco
Summary: It is still an open question for the surface/interface community to understand the general rules of electron coupling that govern interfacial friction, although the electron nature of a solid in contact plays a predominant role in determining the many properties of the contact systems. In this study, density functional theory calculations were performed to investigate the physical origins of friction of solid interfaces. The results reveal that interfacial friction can be traced back to the electronic barrier to the change in the contact configuration of the joints in slip due to the resistance of energy level rearrangement leading to electron transfer.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wanying Wu, Jinyang Zhang, Xiaofei Cao, Zhengyi Cai, Fangqing Zhao
Summary: This study explores the cellular landscape of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in human and mouse tissues using single-cell RNA-seq datasets. Through large-scale analysis, a large number of circRNAs in humans and mice are identified. The circRNAs are validated through integration with other resources. The study reveals the expression pattern of circRNAs in different cell types and tumors, and their application in immune cell composition deconvolution is validated.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Marta Rojas-Rodriguez, Tania Fiaschi, Michele Mannelli, Leonardo Mortati, Federica Celegato, Diederik S. Wiersma, Camilla Parmeggiani, Daniele Martella
Summary: Liquid Crystalline Networks (LCNs) with different surface topographies obtained by self-assembly can efficiently control cell alignment and differentiation, providing biological models that cannot be reproduced spontaneously on standard culture dishes. These materials can guide the organization of different cell lines, including single cell alignment or high-density cell cultures. The rough surfaces formed by the spontaneous assembly of liquid crystals can control biological models without the need for lithographic patterning or complex fabrication procedures, opening up possibilities for in vitro formation of well-aligned muscle tissue.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Qing Zhang, Jin Huang, Gang Lei, Qiang Chen, Tianxiang Wang, Wenhu Han
Summary: This paper studies the propagation of one-dimensional pulsating detonations and two-dimensional detonations in non-homogeneous media with concentration gradients. The study finds that concentration gradients can affect the survivability and detonability limit of detonations.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Qing Zhang, Jin Huang, Gang Lei, Qiang Chen, Tianxiang Wang, Wenhu Han
Summary: This paper studies 1D pulsating detonations and 2D detonations propagating in non-homogeneous medium with concentration gradient. It is found that superficial concentration gradient can improve the survivability of detonation, while steep concentration gradient will quickly extinguish the detonation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Slawomir K. Tadeja, Luca O. Solari Bozzi, Kerr D. G. Samson, Sebastian W. Pattinson, Thomas Bohne
Summary: In recent years, additive manufacturing techniques have become viable methods to directly manufacture end products. Fused deposition modeling is the most widely used technology in additive manufacturing. Skilled operators are still needed for maintenance and repair tasks, so adequate training is necessary. This study explores the use of augmented reality technology to automate training and evaluates its effectiveness through design engineering methodologies and user studies.
COMPUTERS & GRAPHICS-UK
(2023)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Xiaoxiao Chen, Youjun Xia, Wenqiang Du, Han Liu, Ran Hou, Yiyu Song, Wenhu Xu, Yuxin Mao, Jianfeng Chen
Summary: Cancer metastasis is a leading cause of increased cancer incidence, recurrence, and mortality. This study investigates the contact guidance behavior of cancer cells in response to topographical constraints and determines the effects of substrate dimensions on cell morphology, density, and migration. Results show that increasing depth and decreasing groove width enhance cell elongation and alignment while inhibiting cell spreading. Cells preferentially distribute on the ridges, and their migration towards the ridges is driven by different cell-substrate interactions caused by geometrical constraints. The entropic force driven mechanism provides valuable insights for studying cell alignment and migration in healthy tissues of varying sizes, thus aiding in predicting cancer metastasis.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Abby L. Bull, Leonard Campanello, Matt J. Hourwitz, Qixin Yang, Min Zhao, John T. Fourkas, Wolfgang Losert
Summary: Cells are able to prioritize among multiple guidance cues and regulate their migration direction by biasing the guidance cues.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Dagmara J. Trojanowska, Giulia Suarato, Clarissa Braccia, Andrea Armirotti, Fabrizio Fiorentini, Athanassia Athanassiou, Giovanni Perotto
Summary: In this study, keratin particles were produced via isoelectric precipitation and found to contain the amino acid sequence LDV, which can promote cell adhesion and growth orientation. Microcontact printing was used to facilitate the adhesion and growth of dermal fibroblast cells on the keratin particles.
ACS APPLIED NANO MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Ye Zhu, Chao Wang, Shuze Geng, Yang Yu, Xiaoke Hao
Summary: Image inpainting aims to fill in missing regions of damaged images with plausible content while maintaining structural consistency. This paper proposes a method that utilizes information from known regions to provide style and structural guidance. Different modules are utilized to reduce artifacts and enhance structures through transfer of visual style features, aggregation of semantic information, and extraction of global contextual information.
JOURNAL OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND IMAGE REPRESENTATION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Greeshma Thrivikraman, Alicja Jagiello, Victor K. Lai, Sandra L. Johnson, Mark Keating, Alexander Nelson, Billianne Schultz, Connie M. Wang, Alex J. Levine, Elliot L. Botvinick, Robert T. Tranquillo
Summary: The study shows that human dermal fibroblasts exhibit stronger contact guidance in aligned fibrin gels with higher mechanical resistance anisotropy, indicating the importance of cells sensing anisotropy of network mechanical resistance.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Gengyi Zhang, Thien N. N. Tran, Liang Huang, Erda Deng, Adrienne Blevins, Wenji Guo, Yifu Ding, Haiqing Lin
Summary: Cross-linked amorphous poly(ethylene oxide) (XLPEO) is a leading membrane material for post-combustion CO2 capture. In this study, high molecular weight yet soluble HPEO was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and fabricated into defect-free thin-film composite (TFC) membranes with excellent performance. The membranes showed stable CO2 permeance and CO2/N-2 selectivity under simulated challenge.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Liang Huang, Wenji Guo, Himangshu Mondal, Skye Schaefer, Thien N. Tran, Shouhong Fan, Yifu Ding, Haiqing Lin
Summary: Amorphous PDXL-based hyperbranched polymers with varied branch length show attractive CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4 separation properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Marcos A. Reyes-Martinez, Edwin P. Chan, Christopher L. Soles, Endao Han, Kieran A. Murphy, Heinrich M. Jaeger, Daniel R. Reid, Juan J. de Pablo
Summary: Disordered-Network Mechanical Materials (DNMM) are mechanical metamaterials that offer fine control over their mechanical properties. This study demonstrates through experiments that pruning a disordered network can alter its macroscopic dynamic mechanical response and its capacity to mitigate impact.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Jessica Zahn, Arno Germond, Alice Y. Lundgren, Marcus T. Cicerone
Summary: This study compared the performance of two machine learning models in discriminating between Raman spectra of different bacterial strains of Escherichia coli. Both models were found to accurately distinguish between the strains, but with different classification boundaries. By analyzing the strain-specific spectral features used by the models, it was observed that they mainly utilized a small subset of high intensity peaks, with only one model utilizing lower intensity peaks.
JOURNAL OF BIOPHOTONICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leiqing Hu, Vinh T. Bui, Ajay Krishnamurthy, Shouhong Fan, Wenji Guo, Sankhajit Pal, Xiaoyi Chen, Gengyi Zhang, Yifu Ding, Rajinder P. Singh, Monica Lupion, Haiqing Lin
Summary: By doping polymers with thermolabile cross-linkers before low-temperature carbonization, the processability of the polymers can be retained and superior hydrogen/carbon dioxide separation properties can be achieved.
Editorial Material
Polymer Science
Dean M. DeLongchamp, Kathryn L. Beers, Christopher L. Soles
JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Leiqing Hu, Shouhong Fan, Liang Huang, Vinh T. Bui, Thien Tran, Kaiwen Chen, Yifu Ding, Mark T. Swihart, Haiqing Lin
Summary: This study demonstrates a method to break the permeability/selectivity tradeoff using supramolecular polymer networks (SPNs) comprising polybenzimidazole (PBI) and dissociable metal salts. By coordinating metal ions and plasticizing with trifluoroacetate anions, the SPNs achieve higher fractional free volumes and lower d-spacing, resulting in increased H-2 permeability and H-2/CO2 selectivity. The SPNs also exhibit superior mechanical properties and stable performance in the presence of water vapor.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
John P. Stoppleman, Jesse G. McDaniel, Marcus T. Cicerone
Summary: This study shows the role of structural excitations in liquid relaxation and their relationship with density scaling. The study also discovers the equivalence between Gru''neisen parameter and density scaling parameter in interbasin crossing modes.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Katherine M. Evans, Christopher L. Soles, Edwin P. Chan
Summary: Cavitation is a phenomenon that occurs when the internal pressure of a material exceeds the resistance to deformation provided by the surrounding medium. We introduce a new measurement called laser-induced membrane expansion (LIME) to measure the shear modulus of thin membranes at high strain rates by using laser ablation. Using LIME, we study the mechanical properties of PDMS membranes at different thicknesses and crosslink densities and find that the shear modulus is weakly dependent on the crosslink density but strongly strain rate dependent.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rajas Poorna, Wei-Wen Chen, Peng Qiu, Marcus T. Cicerone
Summary: Raman spectroscopy has the ability to distinguish different cell phenotypes based on their metabolic profiles that change with transcriptomic activity. However, associating Raman spectral changes with specific signaling pathways can be challenging due to weak signals and individual variations. In this study, broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS) microscopy is used to map the C. elegans hermaphrodite gonad at subcellular resolution. The results show that the BCARS spatio-spectral signatures correlate with gene expression profiles, indicating the potential of BCARS as a spatially resolved omics surrogate.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Katherine M. Evans, Shawn H. Chen, Amanda J. Souna, Stephan J. Stranick, Christopher L. Soles, Edwin P. Chan
Summary: This article introduces a new approach to study the behavior of materials during high-speed puncture events by combining micro- and macroscale experimental data. It provides insights into the relationship between size-scale effects, materials properties, and perforation resistance. The approach allows for the evaluation of material performance independent of impact energy or specific puncture experiment types.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Correction
Chemistry, Physical
Rajas Poorna, Wei-Wen Chen, Arno Germond, Peng Qiu, Marcus T. Cicerone
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Robert M. Elder, Amanda L. Forster, Ajay Krishnamurthy, Joseph M. Dennis, Hiroshi Akiba, Osamu Yamamuro, Kanae Ito, Katherine M. Evans, Christopher Soles, Timothy W. Sirk
Summary: Modern design of adhesives, composites, and polymeric parts often involves the use of polymer glasses with specific mechanical properties. By changing the molecular packing during vitrification or in the glassy state, the mechanics of the glass can be modified, resulting in faster structural relaxations and potentially improved ductility. Molecular simulations and experimental measurements were used to analyze the free volume distribution and dynamics of glassy co-polymers, demonstrating the possibility of optimizing the mechanical behavior through changes to the geometric structure and fraction of the free volume.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Leiqing Hu, Vinh T. Bui, Shouhong Fan, Wenji Guo, Sankhajit Pal, Yifu Ding, Haiqing Lin
Summary: This study demonstrates the formation of supramolecular assemblies by complexation between aromatic polycarboxylic acids and imidazoles, and shows their attractive H2/CO2 separation performance. It also investigates the correlation between the molar ratio of protons to polybenzimidazole repeating units and the performance, as well as the effect of temperature on selectivity.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Adrienne K. Blevins, Mengyuan Wang, Michelle L. Lehmann, Leiqing Hu, Shouhong Fan, Christopher M. Stafford, Jason P. Killgore, Haiqing Lin, Tomonori Saito, Yifu Ding
Summary: This study demonstrates the ability to program heterogeneity in two stage reactive polymer networks (TSRP), and investigates the effect of this heterogeneity on CO2/N-2 selectivity. A novel TSRP formulation with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) groups is designed, showing higher permeability, selectivity, and improved mechanical toughness compared to unpatterned materials. This highly customizable material system has the potential to simultaneously improve permselective performance and mechanical properties.