Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yun Liu, Guangze Yang, Yue Hui, Supun Ranaweera, Chun-Xia Zhao
Summary: Nanoparticles (NPs) have gained significant interest in drug delivery, and microfluidics shows promise in their precise control and manufacturing. The successful use of microfluidic NPs in mRNA vaccines represents a major milestone and demonstrates the feasibility of industrial-scale production. This article provides a critical review of recent progress in microfluidic NPs for drug delivery, including the synthesis of organic and inorganic NPs, and their various applications.
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Federica Sommonte, Nunzio Denora, Dimitrios A. Lamprou
Summary: Nanomedicine has developed rapidly in recent years for finding new therapies to treat challenging diseases. Microfluidic technology (MF) and additive manufacturing (AM) have gained popularity in the life science field, offering various benefits and drawbacks. By optimizing operational parameters, MF and AM can overcome existing limitations and their combination can provide highly-customizable and cost-effective solutions. This collaboration between MF and AM shows promising potential for impactful innovation in the near future.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Eman Jaradat, Edward Weaver, Adam Meziane, Dimitrios A. Lamprou
Summary: In conventional drug administration, drug molecules may not effectively reach the pathological site, so nanoparticles (NPs) as drug carriers have potential. NPs have a large surface area and quantum properties. Traditional methods for manufacturing NPs have limitations and new methods need to be investigated.
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Guangze Yang, Yun Liu, Jisi Teng, Chun-Xia Zhao
Summary: The use of fluorescence labelling is common for tracking nanoparticles in drug delivery, but quantification can be challenging due to various factors. Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) provides a distance ruler for probing NP drug delivery by utilizing energy transfer between donor and acceptor fluorophores. Different FRET approaches discussed in the article offer insights into the design of improved nanoparticles with controlled properties.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Leonidas Gkionis, Harmesh Aojula, Lynda K. Harris, Annalisa Tirella
Summary: Microfluidics technology enables precise control over the continuous mixing of fluid phases at the micrometre scale, aiming to optimize processing parameters and facilitate scale-up feasibility. This study successfully utilized microfluidics to rapidly screen manufacturing parameters and phosphatidylcholine formulations to obtain monodispersed and stable liposomal formulations with a narrow size distribution, which showed sustained release of doxorubicin. The drug release profiles varied as a function of DMPC/DSPC mol content in the lipid bilayer, with DMPC-based liposomes exhibiting sustained release compared to DSPC liposomes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS
(2021)
Review
Cell Biology
Leandra S. Baptista, Constance Porrini, Gabriela S. Kronemberger, Daniel J. Kelly, Cecile M. Perrault
Summary: Medicine today faces the challenge of increasing untreatable diseases and a decrease in successful drug development. In vitro preclinical tests, particularly using 3D cell culture and human stem cell biology, can help predict the potential of new drugs and avoid expensive clinical trial phases. Integrating organoid culture with microsystems, such as microphysiological systems or organ-on-a-chip, can improve drug development by emulating physiological conditions and reducing costs.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Nima Tabatabaei Rezaei, Hitendra Kumar, Hongqun Liu, Samuel S. S. Lee, Simon S. S. Park, Keekyoung Kim
Summary: Currently, scientists and researchers are developing novel approaches to offer an alternative to animal studies in response to the demand for more reliable drug screening devices. Organ-on-chips, which use microfluidic devices to mimic the physiological and biological properties of different organs and tissues using human-derived cells, have emerged as promising platforms for drug screening and disease metabolism investigation. This review focuses on the application of additive manufacturing and bioprinting to enhance the biomimetic models in organ-on-chips and improve the efficiency of drug investigations. The influence of additive manufacturing on microfluidic chip fabrication and its biomedical applications are also discussed.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Giordano Perini, Francesca Giulimondi, Valentina Palmieri, Alberto Augello, Luca Digiacomo, Erica Quagliarini, Daniela Pozzi, Massimiliano Papi, Giulio Caracciolo
Summary: Nanoparticles have been effective carriers for delivering anticancer drugs to the brain, with liposomal temozolomide being a preferred choice for treating brain tumors. However, the therapeutic benefit of liposomal TMZ is often suboptimal due to inefficient tumor penetration. Recent research has shown that the protein corona surrounding NPs after exposure to human plasma plays a crucial role in determining their anticancer efficacy by facilitating interactions with specific receptors of target cells. By coating liposomal TMZ with a protein corona made of human plasma proteins, researchers were able to increase drug penetration in a 3D brain cancer model and inhibit tumor growth. Fine-tuning the composition of the corona also showed varying effects on tumor growth, clarifying that certain protein corona fingerprints enable favored interactions with specific receptors of brain cancer cells. These findings suggest the potential of developing corona-coated liposomal drugs with enhanced tumor penetration and antitumor efficacy.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Valentina Palacio-Castaneda, Rik Oude Egberink, Arbaaz Sait, Lea Andree, Benedetta Maria Sala, Negar Hassani Besheli, Egbert Oosterwijk, Johan Nilvebrant, Sander C. G. Leeuwenburgh, Roland Brock, Wouter P. R. Verdurmen
Summary: Investigating drug delivery using a versatile microfluidic platform demonstrates specific targeting of proteins and mRNA, showing potential for bone defect regeneration in a 3D culture system.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Maria Lazaridou, Dimitrios N. Bikiaris, Dimitrios A. Lamprou
Summary: Bioprinting is a promising technology for developing functional tissue constructs and controlled drug delivery systems. Chitosan, a natural polysaccharide, is an attractive bioink for tissue regeneration and restoration.
Article
Polymer Science
Filmon Tsegay, Mohamed Elsherif, Haider Butt
Summary: Wounds can become chronic and even lead to mortality. However, 3D printed wound dressings loaded with various items such as antibiotics and antibacterial nanoparticles have emerged as a promising solution for accelerating wound healing.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Ahmad Moukachar, Katie Harvey, Eva Roke, Katherine Sloan, Cameron Pool, Shabbir Moola, Ameer Alshukri, Danielle Jarvis, Phoebe Crews-Rees, Grace McDermott, Lluan Evans, Jin Li, Christopher Thomas, Sion Coulman, Oliver Castell
Summary: The development of low-cost accessible technologies for rapid prototyping of mechanical components has made engineering tools more accessible to hobbyists and researchers. A similar approach can be applied to the fabrication of soft-matter and biologically compatible materials, enabling advancements in biological research.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Chien-Hsiu Li, Yu-Chan Chang, Michael Hsiao, Ming-Hsien Chan
Summary: This article introduces the use of nanoparticle-assisted drug delivery system and its enhancement on image analysis and biomedicine.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alessandra Dellaquila, Chau Le Bao, Didier Letourneur, Teresa Simon-Yarza
Summary: The study discusses the importance of vascularization techniques in tissue engineering and the current research progress. By using different strategies and materials, more biologically relevant and organ-specific 3D models can be established, which are expected to be used for regenerative medicine and drug development in the future.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shamapto Guha Anthon, Karolina Papera Valente
Summary: Traditional 2D cell culture models fail to accurately replicate the cellular environment in vivo, leading to discrepancies between preclinical and in vivo testing. Recent advancements in tissue engineering have enabled the development of 3D cell culture systems that can accurately mimic the cellular and tissue microenvironment. However, the lack of perfusion systems limits their application as drug screening platforms.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xuan Mu, John S. K. Yuan, Jaewon Choi, Yixin Zhang, Peggy Cebe, Xiaocheng Jiang, Yu Shrike Zhang, David L. Kaplan
Summary: Researchers have achieved near-perfect resilience comparable to resilin and elastin using non-resilin/elastin sequences that adopt kinetically stabilized, random coil-dominated conformations. They have also demonstrated a direct correlation between resilience and Raman-characterized protein conformations, and shown that metastable protein conformations enable the construction of mechanically graded protein materials with spatially controlled conformations and resilience. These findings provide insights into the molecular mechanisms of protein elastomers and present a general conformation-driven strategy for developing resilient and functional protein materials.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Samson Afewerki, Thiago Domingues Stocco, Andre Diniz Rosa da Silva, Andre Sales Aguiar Furtado, Gustavo Fernandes de Sousa, Guillermo U. Ruiz-Esparza, Thomas J. Webster, Fernanda R. Marciano, Maria Stromme, Yu Shrike Zhang, Anderson Oliveira Lobo
Summary: Precision medicine allows for tailored treatments, improving the efficiency and accuracy of disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The combination of organ-on-a-chip and bioprinting can address precision medicine challenges and be utilized in the current COVID-19 pandemic for efficient diagnostics and treatments. This convergence enables advances in tools and in vitro models for personalized and faster screening of therapeutics.
MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Liwen Zheng, Yaxian Liu, Lin Jiang, Xiaoping Wang, Yuqin Chen, Lan Li, Mingyu Song, Hongmei Zhang, Yu Shrike Zhang, Ximu Zhang
Summary: This study proposes a new strategy for pulp regeneration by using hydrogel microspheres incorporated with decellularized dental pulp matrix-derived bioactive factors to simulate a pulp-specific three-dimensional microenvironment. The constructed microspheres exhibit favorable plasticity, biocompatibility, and biological performances, and hDPSCs cultured on the microspheres demonstrate enhanced pulp-formation ability. In vivo experiments show that the microspheres facilitate the regeneration of pulp-like tissue and new dentin. The decellularized pulp matrix-derived bioactive factors mediate the multi-directional differentiation of hDPSCs to regenerate the pulp tissue.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Xuan Mu, Marie Denise Gerhard-Herman, Yu Shrike Zhang
Summary: Blood vessel chips are bioengineered microdevices that mimic essential vascular structure and physiology, allowing for controlled microenvironments and spatial-temporal readouts. They provide promising opportunities to study vascular diseases and offer insights into biological processes and disease pathogenesis. The physiological relevance is crucial and they rely on bioinspired strategies and engineering approaches to replicate vascular physiology.
ADVANCED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Carla Spatola Rossi, Frederic Coulon, Shaohua Ma, Yu Shrike Zhang, Zhugen Yang
Summary: Rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of live pathogens is crucial for quality control and risk assessment. Conventional methods are often complex, expensive, time-consuming, and not suitable for field testing or low-resource settings. Microfluidic devices that integrate laboratory functions in a miniaturized manner have emerged as a promising tool for rapid and sensitive pathogen detection.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Editorial Material
Engineering, Biomedical
Yu Shrike Zhang, Mario Moises Alvarez, Grissel Trujillo-de Santiago
Summary: The field of biofabrication has made significant advancements in the past decade, particularly in the generation of biomimetic models of human tissues to study healthy and diseased states. These models have broad applications in fundamental biology research and compound screening, including therapeutic agents. The United States FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which eliminates the requirement for animal tests before human drug trials, is expected to further accelerate the development of this field. This Special Issue emphasizes the latest developments in biofabrication for human disease modeling, including 3D printing, organ-on-a-chip, and their integration.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Thuy Giang Nguyen Cao, Ji Hee Kang, Su Jin Kang, Quan Truong Hoang, Han Chang Kang, Won Jong Rhee, Yu Shrike Zhang, Young Tag Ko, Min Suk Shim
Summary: This study utilized brain endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles as a nano-carrier to transport photosensitizers into brain tumors, thereby enhancing the efficacy of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of malignant brain tumors.
ACTA PHARMACEUTICA SINICA B
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Marcel Alexander Heinrich, Irene Uboldi, Praneeth Reddy Kuninty, Marc J. K. Ankone, Joop van Baarlen, Yu Shrike Zhang, Kartik Jain, Jai Prakash
Summary: A multi-layered vascularized 3D PDAC model was developed to study the compression of blood vessels in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) caused by fibrosis. The model mimics the activation of cells and vessel compression observed in fibrotic tumors. In silico and in vivo experiments showed that cancer-associated fibroblast modulation therapy can inhibit the cell-mediated compression of blood vessels in PDAC.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Manna Dai, Gao Xiao, Ming Shao, Yu Shrike Zhang
Summary: Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are advanced in vitro models that are miniature microfluidic systems. Deep learning, an emerging topic in machine learning, can extract hidden statistical relationships from input data. This review discusses the integration of deep learning with OoCs for drug screening and presents successful use cases. The future prospects, perspectives, and potential challenges of combining OoCs and deep learning for image processing and automation designs are also discussed.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Berivan Cecen, Shabir Hassan, Xin Li, Yu Shrike Zhang
Summary: Smart biomaterials that can alter their properties in response to external stimuli or environmental changes have gained significant attention in the biomedical community. Shape-memory materials, in particular, have been extensively studied for their potential biomedical applications, offering unique structural reconfiguration features and enhanced biocompatibility.
MACROMOLECULAR BIOSCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Gang Ren, Xia Zhou, Ruimin Long, Maobin Xie, Ranjith Kumar Kankala, Shibin Wang, Yu Shrike Zhang, Yuangang Liu
Summary: In this review, the formation mechanism of magnetosomes and various modification methods are discussed. The biomedical advancements of bacterial magnetosomes in biomedical imaging, drug delivery, anticancer therapy, and biosensors are presented. Future applications and challenges are also discussed. This review summarizes the application of magnetosomes in the biomedical field, highlighting the latest advancements and exploring the future development.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Philipp Weber, Ling Cai, Francisco Javier Aguilar Rojas, Carlos Ezio Garciamendez-Mijares, Maria Celeste Tirelli, Francesco Nalin, Jakub Jaroszewicz, Wojciech Swieszkowski, Marco Costantini, Yu Shrike Zhang
Summary: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been successful in engineering human tissues, and the integration of a digital light processing (DLP) printing procedure with a microfluidic chip system allows for the production of size-tunable, 3D-printable porosities within a GelMA hydrogel matrix.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yunhua Wang, Guoxia Zheng, Nan Jiang, Guoliang Ying, Yiwei Li, Xiaolu Cai, Jiashen Meng, Liqiang Mai, Ming Guo, Yu Shrike Zhang, Xingcai Zhang
Summary: This article discusses the importance of nature inspiration in micropatterned materials and presents the key principles, fabrication methods, and applications of nature-inspired micropatterns. By imitating natural strategies, engineering challenges can be solved and novel functions can be imparted to materials. Nature inspiration is an interdisciplinary field involving various materials and fabrication techniques.
NATURE REVIEWS METHODS PRIMERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Riccardo Levato, Oksana Dudaryeva, Carlos Ezio Garciamendez-Mijares, Bruce E. Kirkpatrick, Riccardo Rizzo, Jacob Schimelman, Kristi S. Anseth, Shaochen Chen, Marcy Zenobi-Wong, Yu Shrike Zhang
Summary: Light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting allows computer-aided patterning of 3D cell-laden structures using photoactivatable bioresin in vats. This technology, divided into stereolithography, digital light processing and volumetric additive manufacturing, has been widely developed and applied in biomedicine. This Primer introduces the methodology and variations of light-based vat-polymerization 3D bioprinting, as well as discusses key assessments and future directions of this method.
NATURE REVIEWS METHODS PRIMERS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sajjad Rahmani Dabbagh, Misagh Rezapour Sarabi, Mehmet Tugrul Birtek, Nur Mustafaoglu, Yu Shrike Zhang, Savas Tasoglu
Summary: Organ-on-a-chip (OOC) platforms provide a more realistic environment compared to animal models and conventional cell cultures, offering continuous perfusion of cell cultures, integration of biosensors, and 3D structures fabricated through bioprinting. These platforms have great potential for understanding organ functions, studying disease impacts, and drug screening. This review presents an overview of bioprinting techniques, their advantages and limitations, recent advancements, applications, and future prospects of the 3D-bioprinted OOC platforms, as well as current challenges and future directions.
