Advanced Materials
○ Wiley
Preprints posted in the last 30 days, ranked by how well they match Advanced Materials's content profile, based on 56 papers previously published here. The average preprint has a 0.04% match score for this journal, so anything above that is already an above-average fit.
Badolato, A.; Balciunaite, A.; Casalino, E.; Ravindrarajah, I.; Filippi, M.; Generali, M.; Laumonier, T.; Katzschmann, R.
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Engineered human neuromuscular models are limited by a trade-off between biological fidelity and architectural control: self-assembled organoids organize stochastically, while engineered 3D tissues impose anisotropy through passive tension at the edges without internal guidance. Here we encode architectural guidance into human neuromuscular tissues by coupling a three-dimensional, cell-laden biomatrix to a xolographically printed hydrogel substrate featuring sub-millimeter surface topography. We demonstrate that grooved substrates increase human primary myotube alignment and maturation in the overlying 3D tissue, while guiding directional axon extension from human iPSC-derived motor neuron spheroids. We show that combining both cell types along a shared alignment axis establishes functional neuromuscular connectivity, evidenced by acetylcholine receptor clustering, glutamate-evoked contraction and its blockade by d-tubocurarine (curare), and yields innervation coverage of centimeter scale tissues. Overall, this platform combines compliant substrates, mesoscale tissue architectural guidance, and human-relevant cell biology in a single untethered construct for studies of neuromuscular tissue development and function.
Wang, J.; McClain, C.; Krystofiak, E.; Marguerite, N.; Hoskins, W.; Sutphen, H.; Kropski, J. A.; David, H.; McCall, A. S.; O'Grady, B.
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Digital micromirror device (DMD)-based bioprinting enables high-resolution fabrication of hydrogel-based tissue constructs, but print fidelity and hydrogel mechanics are typically coupled through polymer concentration, light exposure, and crosslinking density. This creates a materials constraint for vascular bioprinting, where constructs must preserve microscale architecture during fabrication while supporting multicellular remodeling, lumen formation, and long-term tissue organization. To meet these requirements, we developed a 4D GelMA-Cad/gelatin hydrogel with time-dependent mechanics that maintains print fidelity while providing a soft, cell-permissive matrix. GelMA-Cad provides a covalently photocrosslinked, bioactive network containing an N-cadherin-mimetic peptide, while uncrosslinked gelatin serves as a transient matrix-modifying component that diffuses from the hydrogel after fabrication, producing further softening without bulk degradation of the GelMA-Cad network. We characterized hydrogel chemistry with NMR, quantified time-dependent changes in stiffness, visualized pore morphology with cryo-SEM, and evaluated the platform in retinal and pulmonary constructs. The 4D hydrogel supports 3D-patterned accuracy, cell viability, inner blood-retinal barrier vasculature, and vascularized lung-alveolar tissue models. Single-cell RNA-sequencing of the pulmonary vascular-alveolar model demonstrated compartment-specific transcriptional responses, including enrichment of lung capillary-associated endothelial features and AT1-like epithelial states. Overall, this platform decouples DMD print fidelity from post-print matrix mechanics for vascularized soft tissue bioprinting and tissue modeling.
Fakih, H. H.; Summers, A.; Tang, Q.; Gagnon, R.; Bramato, B. M.; Furgal, R.; Gross, K. Y.; Fakih, J. H.; Echeverria, D.; Sleiman, H. F.; Khvorova, A.
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Therapeutic siRNAs are a major clinical modality for hepatic gene silencing, but efficient extrahepatic delivery and multi-gene modulation remain significant barriers. Nucleic acid nanotechnology offers programmable assembly, but conventional structures suffer from enzymatic instability in vivo . Here we report fully chemically modified RNA nanostructures (FMRNs): a vehicle-free platform entirely composed of stabilized therapeutic nucleic acids that integrate structural precision with metabolic durability. Following systemic administration, FMRNs exhibit enhanced pharmacokinetics and extrahepatic accumulation, with in vivo behavior influenced greatly by hydrodynamic size rather than molecular weight. Using triangular and square geometries, we demonstrate programmable control over siRNA stoichiometry to achieve sustained, simultaneous silencing of up to four genes from a single entity. Nanostructure assembly alone drives productive delivery, especially to heart and muscle, matching lipophilic conjugation. Furthermore, cerebrospinal fluid administration reveals that larger FMRNs improve central nervous system distribution and retention revealing physicochemical parameters that impact brain exposure. FMRNs establish a modular and effective platform combining improved pharmacokinetics, extrahepatic delivery, and multi-gene silencing for complex diseases.
Rajurkar, P.; Wise, S. D.; Sarkar, A.
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Immunoassays are critical for clinical diagnostics, yet their performance is restricted by the physical constraints of flat surfaces used to immobilize capture molecules which limit loading capacity and induce protein denaturation. Hydrogels provide immense volumetric molecular loading capacity but translating them across diverse assay formats and readout modalities without compromising analyte permeability remains challenging. Here, we present a universal strategy for hydrogel integration into immunoassay platforms for enhanced optical and electronic biosensing. Utilizing bio-orthogonal photo-click chemistry, we developed a modular and tuneable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) matrix that achieves a 6,000-fold increase in molecular loading and a large mesh size for analyte diffusion. This 3D architecture demonstrates broad multimodal utility with easy integration into a range of binding-based assays enabling higher sensitivity, repeatability and multiplexability. It achieves high sensitivity enhancement for fluorescence detection in microarrays (38-fold) and microtiter plates (25-fold) and enables multiplexed readout in single wells, including from clinical serum samples. In silver metallization-based assays it boosts densitometric optical detection sensitivity (18-fold) and enables inexpensive electronic detection. In lateral flow assays, it generates 20-fold signal enhancement while enabling multiplexability and higher repeatability. By standardizing high-capacity volumetric biosensing, this scalable, plug-and-play technology empowers next generation highly sensitive, field-deployable point-of-care diagnostics.
Yokoe, Y.; Yoshimoto, S.; Miniamihata, K.; Sugimoto, R.; Nagatani, A.; Nara, A.; Kamiya, N.; Hori, K.; Ishikawa, M.
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Protein nanofibers are hold great promise as genetically programmable scaffolds for constructing functional material interfaces. AtaA, a giant trimeric autotransporter adhesin from Acinetobacter sp. Tol 5, forms an elongated architecture from the bacterial cell surface, enabling the cells to adhere directly to a wide variety of abiotic surfaces. However, the potential use of AtaA as a scaffold with additional biological functions remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the use of AtaA as a self-immobilizing scaffold for constructing enzymatically active surfaces via horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-catalyzed tyrosine coupling. We prepared a recombinant AtaA nanofiber fragment (NhNs-AtaA) and its derivative containing two tyrosine-containing loop structures (YL-NhNs-AtaA). Both recombinant proteins retained their adhesive properties. Treatment with HRP and H2O2 generated high-molecular-weight products from both proteins, and dityrosine fluorescence emission indicated the formation of tyrosine-derived covalent cross-links. Y-Loop insertion further increased the consumption of monomeric AtaA and promoted the formation of high-molecular-weight products. The removal of arginine, which was included during purification, further increased the loss of monomeric AtaA in both constructs, indicating that intermolecular protein association influenced productive AtaA cross-linking. NhNs-AtaA and YL-NhNs-AtaA were combined with Y-tagged bacterial alkaline phosphatase (BAP-Y). HRP-mediated coupling generated high-molecular-weight products consistent with the cross-linked AtaA-BAP-Y conjugates and enabled the retention of BAP activity on AtaA-coated surfaces without prior chemical modification. Although Y-Loop insertion enhanced polymerization in solution, it reduced AtaA adhesion and consequently lowered surface-bound phosphatase activity, revealing a trade-off between cross-linking reactivity and native adhesive function. These findings establish AtaA as a self-immobilizing protein nanofiber scaffold for constructing enzymatically active surfaces, and suggest the potential extension of this strategy to other AtaA-based interfaces.
Graham, J. P.; Wheeler, E. E.; Leach, K. J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, T.
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CRISPR gene editing offers unprecedented genomic and transcriptomic control, positioning it as a powerful tool for cell therapies. Non-viral CRISPR delivery avoids the immunogenicity, genomic integration, and packaging limits of viral vectors, but local or systemic injections of non-viral nanoparticles suffers from transient action and poor biodistribution. Alternatively, biomaterial-based delivery improves nanoparticle localization and sustains delivery, yet current approaches rely on non-specific adsorption of nanoparticles to scaffolds, risking aggregation, destabilization, and unreliable release kinetics. This work establishes a novel strategy to covalently tether nanoparticles to biomaterial substrates through SnoopTag and SpyTag bioconjugation systems for spatiotemporal control of non-viral CRISPR delivery. The RALA cell-penetrating peptide, an efficient and low-cytotoxicity CRISPR delivery system, was functionalized with SnoopTag without altering nanoparticle formation or transfection capacity. SnoopTag-functionalized nanoparticles were then covalently tethered to SpyTag-decorated zwitterionic microgels via a SnoopCatcher-SpyCatcher fusion protein. This platform achieves sustained RALA-mRNA nanoparticle delivery and prolonged CRISPR activation in human mesenchymal stem cells seeded within CRISPR-loaded microgel scaffolds. This work establishes a defined biorthogonal conjugation system that tethers non-viral nanoparticles to biomaterial platforms for sustained and localized CRISPR gene editing.
Dumas, S.; Gonzalez Martinez, D.; Peixoto De Oliveira, A.; Ferri-Angulo, D.; Bacchin, L.; Arcas, A.; Blatche, C.; Goudouneche, D.; Paounov, R.; Hut, M.; Puaud, M.; Foncy, J.; Moran-Mirabal, J.; Malaquin, L.
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Developing biomaterials that faithfully recapitulate the complex architecture of native tissues is central to tissue engineering. Conventional hydrogels typically exhibit nanoscale porosity, which limits mass transport and cell migration and thereby constrains tissue development. Here, we exploit liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) to generate interconnected macroporous gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) scaffolds with tunable pore sizes ranging from 2 to 50 m under physiological pH conditions. By mapping the GelMA/dextran phase diagram, we identify a composition range in which LLPS occurs through spinodal decomposition, resulting in a spontaneous bicontinuous, trabecular-like architecture. Pore size can be further tuned by varying polymer concentrations and temperature. We advantageously combined thermal gradients and photopatterning to enable spatial control over pore morphology to fabricate hierarchically structured materials. The biological relevance of these architectures is assessed using fibroblasts cultured within controlled porosity gradients. We show that pore size strongly influences cell infiltration, growth, and spatial organization, with larger pores providing sufficient space for cell migration while reducing the dependence on matrix degradation. Pore size of 7-15 m is identified for maximizing fibroblast growth. Overall, our approach provides a versatile platform for porosity screening, enabling the engineering of biomimetic hydrogels with optimized microarchitectures tailored to specific biological contexts for three-dimensional cell culture.
Su, Z.; Lin, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Hu, X.
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Precise organization of bioactive ligands at material-cell interfaces is critical for directing integrin-mediated cell behavior, yet tuning supramolecular organization commonly necessitates orchestrated redesign of molecular composition or ligand sequence. Here we establish terminal modification as a minimal, sequence-preserving strategy to reprogram the organization and function of self-assembling integrin ligands. Using FFFIKVAV as a model system, N- and C-terminal modifications generated distinct supramolecular states with markedly different integrin activation and cell migration responses. Notably, stronger intermolecular association did not produce stronger biological activity, as N-terminal acetylation promoted scaffold consolidation while reducing the configurational freedom of the exposed IKVAV ligand and diminishing integrin activation and cell migration. Alongside modulating migration magnitude, terminal chemistry also diversified the cellular programs supporting migration, with the parent peptide and its C-terminally amidated analogue favoring protrusion-dominant and stress-fiber-dominant adhesion-cytoskeletal programs, respectively. These functional states were reproduced when the assemblies were introduced directly to pre-adherent cells, extending their activity beyond preformed material coatings. Our findings identify terminal chemistry as a compact molecular design variable that links supramolecular organization to ligand function while diversifying the biological output of a shared bioactive sequence.
Heisser, R. H.; Afsar, O. K.; Sawhney, P.; Castro, N.; Lee, I.; Marschner, A.; Raman, R.
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Tissue-engineered skeletal muscle offers robotics unique advantages in energy density, adaptability, and self-repair, but current biohybrid machines couple muscle directly to artificial skeletons, limiting net force output and requiring continuous stimulation maintain mechanism positions. Here, we introduce a biohybrid bistable switching mechanism that converts antagonistic muscle contractions to snap-through actuation of an elastomeric four-bar flexure, maintaining stable positions without energy consumption. We decouple passive muscle pre-tensioning from flexure operation with thin-film elastomer resistance bands, enabling fine tuning of spring stiffness and force to match muscle mechanical output envelopes. Leveraging mesoscale additive manufacturing, spin coating, and replica molding techniques, components are integrated into a millimeter-scale linear stage to axially align muscles with artificial components. Our prototype achieves reversible toggling between bistable states with a 130 ms switching time, establishing skeletal muscle actuators as viable electromechanical switches, and broadening biohybrid robotics towards novel applications such as grippers, valves, and mechanical computers.
Anspach, A.; Wolfel, A.; Cano-Jorge, M.; Dalenoord, F.; König, N. F.; Custodio, C. A.; Rolfes, S.; Mano, J. F.; Passier, R.; Leijten, J.
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Type II photoinitiators are essential for numerous applications, including advanced 3D printing techniques such as Xolography. Despite offering tunable wavelengths and reaction mechanisms, their limited photoreactivity hinders widespread adoption. Solutions to increase reactivity, particularly in aqueous solutions and in a biocompatible manner, are urgently needed. Here, we report the surprising finding that iodixanol enhances reactivity of type II photoinitiation systems. Supplementing Xolographic print resins with iodixanol increases photoreactivity, which reduces print times and light dosage tenfold, and enables printing of previously unprintable material formulations. Surprisingly, iodixanol supplementation also improves cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, while reducing cell-mediated light scattering. Together, this enables accurate Xolographic printing of highly cell-dense bioresins, which facilitated the biofabrication of engineered living matter with up to 100 M cells mL-1 (>40% cells by volume) with a resolution of ~65 microns. These advances enabled the first demonstration of tissue function in Xolographically-printed materials. Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were printed into contractile cardiac-like engineered living matter, which exhibited enhanced cell-cell contact and synchronous contractions, confirming tissue level function. As a highly water soluble, cytocompatible, and clinically approved compound, iodixanol therefore represents a valuable and translatable solution to improve the reactivity of type II photoinitiation systems, which enables volumetric biofabrication of highly cell dense living matter. This unlocks a new role for iodixanol in a wide variety of fields including dentistry, chemistry, organic photovoltaics, tissue engineering, and 3D printing.
Ma, Y.; He, X.-L.; Du, J.-Q.; Pan, M.-M.; Wang, M.; Qu, G.-Y.; Jiang, M.; Xu, L.; Yu, X.
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Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as promising liquid biopsy markers; however, their clinical translation is restricted by low abundance, biological heterogeneity, and the complexity of multiplex profiling. Herein, we develop a targeted cycling-mediated duplex-specific nuclease (DSN)-nanozyme signal amplification platform (TC-DSN-Nano) that establishes a compartmentalized catalytic transduction strategy for multiplexed miRNA analysis. By encapsulating gold nanozymes within liposomal nanoreactors, this platform spatially separates molecular recognition from catalytic signal generation, preserving nanozyme activity during sensor construction. Upon target miRNA recognition, DSN-mediated recycling induces regenerative release of nanozyme-loaded liposomes from magnetic substrates, converting individual miRNA molecules into amplified catalytic outputs without conventional nucleic acid amplification. The platform enables programmable profiling of six prostate cancer (PCa) associated miRNAs in serum samples. Furthermore, machine learning-assisted integration of multiplexed miRNA signatures enables accurate discrimination among healthy donors, nonmetastatic PCa patients, and metastatic PCa patients, achieving an overall classification accuracy of 90.5%. This work establishes a general compartmentalized nanozyme transduction framework that integrates molecular recycling, catalytic amplification, and computational analysis for liquid biopsy-based cancer stratification.
Nazeer, N.; Ratre, P.; Gurjar, V.; Goryacheva, O.; Lodhi, S.; Bhargava, A.; Goryacheva, I. Y.; Mishra, P. K.
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Perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are exceptionally promising next-generation optical materials for bioimaging applications. This paper presents an optical PQDs nanocomposite method to identify bacterial species associated with breast cancer, employing a LSTM deep learning model. The results indicate that the developed PQD-based nano-sensor offers impressive sensitivity, selectivity, and practical application. The four bacterial species identified in the study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio parvula, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Streptococcus vestibularis, were considered the most relevant indicators of breast cancer. With rapid detection, an intuitive design, and improved reliability, the PQD sensor could be an excellent breast cancer diagnostic tool for a point-of-care application. Furthermore, it has the potential to be integrated into healthcare systems, specifically in resource-limited settings, thereby improving the accessibility and efficiency of early breast cancer detection.
DeVilla, J. N.; Binenbaum, Y.; Cieri, N.; Zhang, D. K.; Ji, H.; Martinolli DArcy, V.; Oliveira, G.; Manos, M.; Neuberg, D.; Ritz, J.; Ott, P. A.; Mooney, D.; Wu, C. J.
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Adoptive cellular therapies can be effective against solid tumors but rely on the identification and expansion of rare tumor-reactive T cells (TRTs). Here, we utilize antigen-presenting cell-mimetic scaffolds (APC-ms), a modular biomaterial platform that presents defined peptide-HLA and co-stimulatory ligands on a fluid lipid bilayer to selectively recover rare antigen-specific T cells from peripheral blood. Independent variation of peptide-HLA, co-stimulatory ligands, and cytokine support defined a formulation that enriched MART-1-specific T cells to above 2% of CD8+ T cells in 35 of 50 HLA-A*02:01+ healthy donors from low or undetectable baseline frequencies. Compared with mo-DCs, APC-ms achieved greater fold expansion of MART-1-specific T cells with increased functional avidity and preservation of an early differentiation phenotype, and generated a higher number of MART-1-specific clonotypes. In five of eight patients with treatment-naive melanoma, APC-ms could enrich MART-1-specific T cells to a median of 13.7% of CD8+ cells (range 0.30 - 57.2%) Moreover, APC-ms could expand T cells specific for an HLA-A*24:01-restricted personal neoantigen that were previously undetectable in peripheral blood of a patient with melanoma. These findings establish APC-ms as a tunable platform for the recovery of rare TRTs from peripheral blood, supporting its further development for therapeutic TCR discovery and personalized adoptive cell therapy.
Wlodarczyk-Biegun, M.; Fernandes, M.; Es Sayed, J.; Amirsadeghi, A.; Rency Geevarghese, R.; Zur-Pinska, J.; de Vries, J.; Koch, M.
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Granular hydrogels, made of jammed soft microparticles, are of great interest for 3D (bio)printing, as they combine ideal rheological properties and extensive modularity, yielding favorable microstructures for tissue engineering. Typically, the yield-stress properties of these materials, which facilitate printability, are defined by the preparation state and the initial particle content of the hydrogel. Here, we propose a granular hydrogel whose yield-stress and, consequently, printability and printed scaffolds shape retention can be controlled not only by the initial weight fraction of particles but also by their stimuli-responsive swelling. The responsive microgels are prepared from poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) crosslinked by dynamic covalent disulfide bonds. The particles swelling is triggered by reduction-induced cleavage of the disulfide bonds into two pendant thiol groups, enabling printing of multilayer scaffolds with high shape fidelity. Without chemically induced swelling, the same formulation requires higher particle concentrations to be printable. Importantly, the printed structures can be annealed by oxidizing the thiol units back into disulfide inter-particle bonds. The printed scaffolds are compatible with human dermal fibroblasts (HDF) and support cell-material interactions. This system offers a unique opportunity for on-demand modulation of both printability and scaffold microstructure, enabling unique control over local stiffness, packing density, and porosity in granular scaffolds.
Gurbuz, H.; Dogan, A. A.; Rezaei, B.; Scordo, G.; Hansen, T. W.; Kajtez, J.; P. Pereira, M.; Keller, S. S.; Dufva, M.; Heiskanen, A.; Emneus, J.
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Carbon is a versatile electrode material that is used in applications ranging from electrical energy storage and electrosynthesis to CO2 conversion, H2 production, and biosensing. The development of pyrolytic carbon electrodes derived from lithographically patterned photoresist structures has expanded the possibilities for creating diverse 2D and 3D electrode designs. In this paper, we present disc-shaped SU-8-derived pyrolytic carbon scaffold electrodes with an open hexagonal honeycomb lattice. The scaffolds were fabricated, using embedded 3D printing within a shear-thinning support bath composed of fused silica nanoparticles (7% w/v) in mineral oil. The rheological properties of the support bath were optimized to enable the printing of low-viscosity materials like SU-8, which would otherwise lack structural integrity in standard extrusion-based 3D printing. The SU-8 scaffolds were then pyrolyzed and characterized using SEM, Raman spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray, X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometry, and Transmission Electron Microscopy, which revealed graphene-like 'microflowers' on its surface. Electrochemical analysis demonstrated excellent electrochemical properties. The functionality of the scaffold electrodes was validated by differentiation of human neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons on the scaffold surface, followed by real-time detection of dopamine exocytosis upon cell depolarization.
Blauser-Wilson, J.; Zareein, A.; Puth, S.; Jadhav, S. S.; Chen, R.; Hernandez, A. M.; Joseph, A. A.; Zeng, J.; Hougland, J. L.; Wu, Y.
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Cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (CNPs) are a potentially transformative biomimetic targeted-delivery platform, which can engage therapeutic targets through source-cell membrane protein functions or homotypic interactions. However, their therapeutic development is limited by the current inability to accurately resolve membrane coating completeness, and CNP particle-to-particle variation. Here, we introduce a STochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM)-based approach that resolves population composition and quantifies membrane coating coverage at the single-particle level. Applying it to dendritic cell membrane- and HeLa cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (DCmPs and HeLamPs), we revealed substantial heterogeneity within both particle types and a cell-type dependence of coating outcomes, corroborated by confocal imaging and flow cytometry. We also quantified membrane protein composition, including peptide major histocompatibility complex class I (pMHC-I) among DCmPs, and confirmed that DCmPs preferentially engaged antigen-specific T cells in coculture. This single-particle framework establishes a quantitative standard for CNP characterization, providing a foundation for quality control and rational design.
Le, H. T.; Le, V. P.; Le, H. T.; Nguyen, C. T.; Lenshof, A.; Cha, C.; Back, S. H.; Laurell, T.; Koo, K.-i.
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Engineering a transplantable artificial liver requires reconstituting the hepatic lobule, whose densely cellular parenchyma is organized around a hierarchically branched vascular network. Achieving high cellular density and hierarchical vascularization within a single fabrication step remains a major challenge. Here, we present an ultrasonic standing wave (USW)-based strategy that concurrently organizes vascular and parenchymal compartments during a single extrusion. HepG2-endothelial cell aggregates were fabricated as building blocks and suspended in a liver-derived dECM-alginate hydrogel for rapid, ultraviolet-free crosslinking. They were then co-extruded with single endothelial cells through a glass capillary under USW actuation. Due to their size difference, the single cells were focused at the pressure nodes, forming patterns that transitioned from a single supplying line to four microvascular lines. The aggregates instead accumulated at the pressure antinodes, reconstituting the basic microvascular-parenchymal unit of the lobule. Aggregate size increased with seeding density while maintaining uniformity and over 90% viability. The patterned endothelial cells formed perfusable lumina through which 5 um microparticles flowed freely. Compared with hepatocyte-only cultures, the vascularized constructs showed a 1.7-fold increase in urea production, and 2.7- and 6.2-fold increases in CYP1A2 and CYP3A4 expression, respectively. Following implantation into the mouse liver, the scaffolds showed favorable biocompatibility, sustained proliferation over 21 days, and progressive host integration. The smallest blood-containing lumina matured from 26.1 um to 7.9 um in diameter, accompanied by increasing collagen deposition at the graft-host interface. This approach provides a template-free route to hierarchically vascularized hepatic units and a promising step towards implantable liver tissue.
Liu, Y.; Maleki, M.; Perez-Romero, P.; Wang, Y.
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Selectively perturbing pathogenic membranes while preserving host-cell integrity is a fundamental challenge in the design of membrane-active biomaterials. This challenge is particularly acute for enveloped viruses because their lipid membranes are derived from host cells and therefore share many of the same molecular constituents. Here, we demonstrate that engineered nanochirality provides a structural parameter for distinguishing virus-organized membrane nanodomains from host-cell membranes. Histidine-functionalized graphene quantum dots (His-GQDs) form enantiomeric nanoscale structures with distinct interfacial topologies despite closely matched size, composition, and surface charge. D-His-GQDs preferentially interact with cholesterol-rich ordered membrane nanodomains associated with S-acylated coronavirus Spike, penetrate more deeply into raft-like lipid bilayers, and induce lipid disordering, membrane leakage, and viral-envelope disruption. Reducing Spike S-acylation or depleting membrane cholesterol attenuated this stereoselective interaction, while molecular simulations revealed asymmetric lipid organization surrounding S-acylated Spike and preferential insertion of D-His-GQDs into the ordered membrane environment. Functionally, D-His-GQDs directly inactivated human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43), inhibited infection with an EC50 of 0.92 g/mL and exhibited a selectivity index of 361. Stereoselective antiviral activity extended to human cytomegalovirus, demonstrating activity across distinct enveloped-virus families, and intranasal D-His-GQDs protected HCoV-OC43-challenged mice under both prophylactic and early post-exposure regimens. Overall, these findings establish structural nanochirality as a biomaterial design parameter for recognizing higher-order membrane organization and converting virus-associated membrane states into selectively addressable therapeutic vulnerabilities.
McCabe, S.; Zhu, R.; Setia, R. Y.; Brown, J. C.; Pan, Z.; Zhu, X.; Xu, X.; Kaya, B.; Wong, I.; Koropouli, F.; Londono, P. S.; Mok, K. Y.; Kugathasan, R.; Rifaie-Graham, O.; Torraca, V.; Galao, R. P.; Barclay, W. S.; Najer, A.
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A broad-spectrum antiviral is required to enable rapid intervention against current, newly emerging and mutating viruses. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), influenza A virus (IAV), Sindbis virus (SINV) and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) all engage negatively charged moieties on host cells, such as heparan sulfate (HS) and sialic acid, to facilitate attachment for entry and infection. We designed HS-mimetic nanoparticles in the form of polymer vesicles (polymersomes) by blending membrane-forming and sulfonated copolymers. These biocompatible polymersomes successfully inhibited host cell infection of HS-dependent SARS-CoV-2 and HS-independent IAV in vitro with sub-nanomolar potency. Multivalent interaction of several virus ligands with a single polymersome as quantified by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy likely contributes to their potency. The sulfonated polymersomes also functioned in vivo as demonstrated by a reduction in the spread of SINV, an alphavirus model for CHIKV, in zebrafish embryos, which led to a significantly increased survival. Hence, our polymersomes could form the basis for an urgently required multifunctional broad-spectrum antiviral nanomedicine.
Hong, J.; Lim, J.; Park, M.; Song, J.; Lee, B. J.; Park, M.; Shin, M.-K.; Seo, H.; Kang, H. J.; Kim, B.-S.; Lee, C.-H.
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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells and CAR-macrophages (or CAR-monocytes) offer complementary antitumor functions. CAR-T cells exert potent cytotoxicity against cancer cells, whereas CAR-macrophages can infiltrate solid tumors, phagocytose cancer cells and promote antigen spreading. Antibody-conjugated lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have emerged as non-viral mRNA delivery platforms for generating CAR-immune cells. However, these systems have generally been optimized to target a single immune-cell type. Here, to enable the ex vivo generation of CAR-T cells and CAR-monocytes, we developed CLCM08, an anti-CD222 antibody, and co-displayed it with an anti-CD5 antibody on LNPs. CD222 is predominantly expressed by monocytes, macrophages and T cells, and facilitates the internalization of CD222-binding molecules. CD5 is primarily expressed by T cells and has previously been used to enable LNP-mediated mRNA delivery to these cells. Delivery of CAR mRNA by dual CD222/CD5 antibody-conjugated LNPs to primary monocytes and T cells substantially enhanced the ex vivo generation of CAR-monocytes and CAR-T cells compared with non-conjugated LNPs. Moreover, CD19 CAR-T cells and CAR-monocytes generated using dual CD222/CD5 antibody-conjugated LNPs showed enhanced cytotoxic and phagocytic activity, respectively, relative to cells generated using non-conjugated LNPs, with anti-CD222 LNPs producing the largest phagocytic gain in monocytes. These findings establish an adaptable antibody-conjugated LNP-mRNA platform for the ex vivo generation of CAR-T cells and CAR-monocytes.