Article
Cell Biology
Lisann Esser, Ronald Springer, Georg Dreissen, Lukas Loevenich, Jens Konrad, Nico Hampe, Rudolf Merkel, Bernd Hoffmann, Erik Noetzel
Summary: Cell contractility regulates epithelial tissue geometry development and homeostasis. We developed an elastomeric pillar cage (EPC) array to quantify cell contractility as a mechanoresponse of epithelial microtissues to substrate stiffness and topography. This work introduced a versatile biophysical tool to explore mechanobiological regulation circuits driving low and high-tensional states during microtissue development and homeostasis.
Article
Polymer Science
Eric Lafranche, Sandra Macedo, Pedro Ferreira, Carla I. Martins
Summary: This study investigates the interfacial adhesion of PA6/PP-g-MA in a thin-walled multilayer part obtained by injection overmoulding. Through microscopy analysis, mechanical characterization, and inter-diffusion models, the study aims to understand the interface better. The presence of a copolymer interphase was observed, with the holding pressure being a key parameter for achieving the best results in terms of failure strength.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Coatings & Films
Stephania Kossman, Leonardo Bertolucci Coelho, Alex Montagne, Alberto Mejias, Adrien Van Gorp, Thierry Coorevits, Matthieu Touzin, Marie-Eve Druart, Mariana H. Staia, Marc Poorteman, Marie-Georges Olivier
Summary: In this study, a Si/Zr based sol-gel coating was deposited on 316L stainless steel plates with different surface states produced by passivation or electropolishing. The coating thickness and topography were affected by the initial surface state of the substrate, but did not significantly alter the tribocorrosion response of the SG systems. Both systems showed an increase in current during sliding contact cycles, indicating corrosion activity.
SURFACE & COATINGS TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
James Carthew, Hazem H. Abdelmaksoud, Karla J. Cowley, Margeaux Hodgson-Garms, Roey Elnathan, Joachim P. Spatz, Juergen Brugger, Helmut Thissen, Kaylene J. Simpson, Nicolas H. Voelcker, Jessica E. Frith, Victor J. Cadarso
Summary: The novel technology developed allows for direct imprint of micro- and nanoscaled topographical features onto the base of conventional cell cultureware, making it compatible with standard biological techniques and methods of analysis. High-throughput screening across five distinct cell types interrogated the effects of 12 surface topographies, demonstrating unique cell specific responses to behavior and cell morphological characteristics. This technology provides new insights into how surface topographies can regulate key image descriptors to drive cell fate determination in various fields in the life sciences.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Maria Lastra Cagigas, Nicole S. Bryce, Nicholas Ariotti, Simon Brayford, Peter W. Gunning, Edna C. Hardeman
Summary: The actin/tropomyosin filaments play a crucial role in cell-substrate adhesion assembly and regulation of mechanosensing, matrix remodelling, and transformation towards a cancer phenotype. Knock-out of Tpm1.8/1.9 disrupts the formation of dorsal actin bundles, hindering recruitment of critical mechanosensors, while re-expression can restore cell adhesion.
Article
Biophysics
David Choi, Zachary Gonzalez, Sum Yat Ho, Alexandra Bermudez, Neil Y. C. Lin
Summary: Epithelial cells are influenced by the mechanical and molecular cues from the substrate they reside on and their surrounding neighbors, with cell-substrate and cell-cell interactions masking each other's influence in confluent epithelia. Combinatorial changes in the physical microenvironment are necessary to alter cell morphology and gene expression.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Jose Jonathan Rubio Arias, Isabela Custodio MotanAff, Lais Schmidt Albuquerque, Karim Dahmouche, Maria de Fatima Vieira Marques
Summary: Thermal annealing is a crucial stage in the fabrication of active layers for organic solar cells. By using GIWAXS, the optimal annealing time and crystallization mechanisms of conjugated polymer films were determined in this study.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Youngtaek Kim, Jiyoung Song, Younggyun Lee, Sunghyun Cho, Suryong Kim, Seung-Ryeol Lee, Seonghyuk Park, Yongdae Shin, Noo Li Jeon
Summary: The newly designed injection molded microfluidic device addresses the inherent limitations of PDMS-manufactured devices and provides a more convenient way to study single-cell behaviors while saving time. The spatiotemporal dynamics in the device were demonstrated through experiments and computational simulations. This easy-to-use plastic microfluidic device promises to open a new approach for investigating the mechanisms of cell behavior at the single-cell level.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Surya Rao Gorrepotu, Kishore Debnath, Rabindra Narayan Mahapatra
Summary: In this study, Taguchi's grey relational analysis (GRA) was used to optimize the parameters of the chemical treatment process in order to improve the mechanical properties of green composites. Two types of green composites, BF/PLA and PLF/PLA, were fabricated using injection moulding. The effects of different chemical treatments, concentrations, and treatment periods on the mechanical properties were evaluated. The optimal parameter values were determined, and the morphology of the specimens was observed using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).
JOURNAL OF POLYMERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Zahra Allahyari, Thomas R. Gaborski
Summary: Porous membranes play a crucial role in microphysiological systems, controlling cellular responses and interactions. However, the influence of pore characteristics is not fully understood.
Article
Cell Biology
Yi Yu, Liu-Jie Ren, Xin-Yue Liu, Xiao-Bo Gong, Wei Yao
Summary: Mast cells demonstrate different migration behaviors on substrates of varying stiffness, with spindle-shaped cells being the most common and round cells exhibiting the slowest migration speed. Migration persistence of mast cells is slightly higher on stiffer substrates. The highest migration efficiency was observed at an intermediate optimal stiffness.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Sharvari R. Sathe, Deepak Jain, Cheng-Gee Koh, Evelyn K. F. Yim
Summary: This study investigates how topographical cues affect cell migration and morphology, especially in the context of POPX2 overexpression. The results show that overexpressing cells are more sensitive to topographical cues and exhibit more direct migration paths, indicating a potential mechanism for directional cell migration combining biochemical and mechanical cues.
BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Jin Yin, Lu-Feng Deng, Guo-Qi Ma, Feng-Yang Wu, Jia-Zhuang Xu, Xueqin Gao, Fenggang Bian, Jun Lei, Gan-Ji Zhong, Zhong-Ming Li
Summary: This work establishes an in situ investigation system to reveal the structural evolution of polymers during injection molding, providing support for understanding the relationship of processing-structure-property. Various structural types of information have been revealed for the first time, which is valuable for the development of the injection molding industry and integration into the Industrial Internet.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pascal Achenbach, Laura Hillerbrand, Joseï L. Gerardo-Nava, Axel Dievernich, Dorothee Hodde, Antonio S. Sechi, Paul D. Dalton, Andrij Pich, Joachim Weis, Haktan Altinova, Gary A. Brook
Summary: Schwann cell transplantation is hindered by barrier formation between grafted cells and reactive astrocytes, limiting axonal regeneration. A cell confrontation assay revealed that oriented poly(& epsilon;-caprolactone) nanofibers reduced astrocyte reactivity and facilitated intermingling between Schwann cells and astrocytes, promoting neurite outgrowth. These findings have important implications for the design of biomaterial-based scaffolds for nervous tissue repair.
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Sarita Bharti, Senthilvelan Selvaraj
Summary: This study investigates the influence of two different manufacturing processes (injection molding and selective laser sintering) on the frictional and wear performance of polyamide. Selective laser sintering material shows lower friction, wear, and surface temperature than injection molding material under dry conditions. Factors like reduced ductility due to sintering contribute to these differences.
INDUSTRIAL LUBRICATION AND TRIBOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lisa Laux, Marie F. A. Cutiongco, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Bjorn Sand Jensen
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Christopher Kelly, Donald A. MacLaren, Katie McKay, Anthony McFarlane, Affar S. Karimullah, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Laurence D. Barron, Sonja Franke-Arnold, Frances Crimin, Joerg B. Goette, Stephen M. Barnett, Malcolm Kadodwala
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yang Xu, Guanbo Min, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Ravinder Dahiya, Daniel M. Mulvihill
Article
Optics
Tarun Kakkar, Chantal Keijzer, Marion Rodier, Tatyana Bukharova, Michael Taliansky, Andrew J. Love, Joel J. Milner, Affar S. Karimullah, Laurence D. Barron, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Adrian J. Lapthorn, Malcolm Kadodwala
LIGHT-SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Guanbo Min, Yang Xu, Peter Cochran, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Daniel M. Mulvihill, Ravinder Dahiya
Summary: This research reveals that the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators is related to the real contact area, with increasing contact pressure leading to higher electrical output. These findings are significant for TENG design, defining tribo-charge density, and the potential use of TENGs as self-powered sensors.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Neil Convery, Iliyana Samardzhieva, John Moir Stormonth-Darling, Sean Harrison, Gareth J. Sullivan, Nikolaj Gadegaard
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of 3D printing for inlays in injection moulding, reducing the skills, cost, and time required for microfluidic chip fabrication. The authors show that the 3D printed inlays are durable enough to produce a large number of parts and that devices can be designed, manufactured, and tested in a short period of time.
MACROMOLECULAR MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Alex Hamilton, Jack Perris, Neil Convery, Daniel M. Mulvihill, Nikolaj Gadegaard
Summary: This paper presents an alternative method to electroplating, utilizing a nanoimprint route to produce flexible micro-structured polymer inserts for mold production. The optimized fabrication approach using silicon masters with smooth sidewalls successfully replicated aspect ratios of 1 and below, as well as feature spacings down to 20 micrometers. Parts were successfully ejected with retained nanometer scalloping, although inlay damage occurred after multiple replicas. Overall, a proof-of-concept microfluidic device was successfully produced, demonstrating the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of this approach for rapid prototyping of complex micro-structured designs.
MACROMOLECULAR MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Maryam Hajji, Michele Cariello, Cameron Gilroy, Martin Kartau, Christopher D. Syme, Affar Karimullah, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Aurelie Malfait, Patrice Woisel, Graeme Cooke, William J. Peveler, Malcolm Kadodwala
Summary: The use of chiral quantum metamaterials in nano-cavities can significantly enhance the detection sensitivity of chiral molecules, with the ability to easily detect six biomolecules per cavity. This phenomenon is attributed to significant local changes in the optical density of states caused by the introduction of biomolecules, which are invisible in classical light-scattering measurements.
Article
Neurosciences
Eline Huethorst, Peter Mortensen, Radostin D. Simitev, Hao Gao, Lotta Pohjolainen, Virpi Talman, Heikki Ruskoaho, Francis L. Burton, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Godfrey L. Smith
Summary: Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in monolayers exhibit multiphasic contractile profiles on rigid surfaces but normal twitch-like kinetics on flexible substrates. Isoprenaline has greater lusitropic and chronotropic effects on flexible substrates compared to glass, while there is no significant difference in stress-activated gene expression between stiff and flexible substrates. Computational models show complex contractile interactions on stiff substrates due to cell-to-cell functional heterogeneity.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jack Perris, Charchit Kumar, Yang Xu, Manlio Tassieri, Mehmet E. Kartal, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Daniel M. Mulvihill
Summary: This study presents a method for rapidly producing high-quality polymer surface topographies from numerically generated surfaces using advanced surface generation tools. Injection molding provides high throughput and quality replication, while casting with low-viscosity resin enables slightly improved high-quality replication. The technology is important for researching surface phenomena sensitive to roughness.
ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Victor Tabouillot, Rahul Kumar, Paula L. Lalaguna, Maryam Hajji, Rebecca Clarke, Affar S. Karimullah, Andrew R. Thomson, Andrew Sutherland, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Shun Hashiyada, Malcolm Kadodwala
Summary: In this study, we harness the power of nanophotonic platforms and plasmonic circularly polarized luminescence (PCPL) to detect the chirality of monolayer quantities of a de novo designed peptide. This demonstrates that optimal biomolecular detection performance can be achieved by leveraging the near field sensitivity of PCPL, opening new avenues for nanometrology.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Olga Guselnikova, Roman Elashnikov, Vaclav Svorcik, Martin Kartau, Cameron Gilroy, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Malcolm Kadodwala, Affar S. S. Karimullah, Oleksiy Lyutakov
Summary: The use of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) combined with disposable chiral plasmonic shurikens and silver nanoclusters allows for effective detection and discrimination of chiral compounds with high sensitivity. Numerical simulations were used to study the effects of shuriken geometry, silver nanostructured layer parameters, and SERS excitation wavelength(s) on the observed SERS response. The designed structures were able to successfully discriminate cysteine enantiomers and probe biomolecular chirality using a standard Raman spectrometer.
NANOSCALE HORIZONS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Martin Kartau, Anastasia Skvortsova, Victor Tabouillot, Shailendra K. Chaubey, Polina Bainova, Rahul Kumar, Vasilii Burtsev, Vaclav Svorcik, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Sang Won Im, Marie Urbanova, Oleksiy Lyutakov, Malcolm Kadodwala, Affar S. Karimullah
Summary: Chiral nanophotonic platforms enhance both the asymmetric properties and intensities of near fields, enabling optical measurements with enantiomeric discrimination at a higher detection level than conventional chirally sensitive spectroscopic methods. This study demonstrates the use of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a local probe to discriminate chiral helicoid nanoparticles on chiral metafilms. The intensity of electromagnetic hotspots generated by matched combinations of helicoid and metafilms is higher, while mismatched combinations result in cooler electromagnetic hotspots. SERS is used to detect the enantiomeric dependency of hotspot intensity, allowing the distinction between different electromagnetic environments of plasmonic diastereomers.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Pawel Kallas, Hakon Valen, Mats Hulander, Nikolaj Gadegaard, John Stormonth-Darling, Padraic O'Reilly, Bernd Thiede, Martin Andersson, Havard Jostein Haugen
Summary: This study investigates the influence of nanotopography on bacterial adhesion. The results show that the protein-coated nanostructured surfaces have different effects on the adhesion of E. coli, with the lowest adhesion occurring in areas with low surface nanopillar coverage and the highest adhesion occurring on surfaces coated with saliva.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
C. Gilroy, D. J. P. Koyroytsaltis-McQuire, N. Gadegaard, A. S. Karimullah, M. Kadodwala
Summary: This study demonstrates that superchiral hot-spots are created around structural heterogeneities in all real metal structures, which possess chiral asymmetries greater than what would be expected from an idealised perfect structure. The findings suggest that surface morphology could play a role in determining the efficacy of a chiral structure for sensing applications.
MATERIALS ADVANCES
(2022)