Applying 3D Models of Giant Salamanders to Explore Form-Function Relationships in Early Digit-Bearing Tetrapods.

Extant salamanders are used as modern analogs of early digit-bearing tetrapods due to general similarities in morphology and ecology, but the study species have been primarily terrestrial and relatively smaller when the earliest digit-bearing tetrapods were aquatic and an order of magnitude larger. Thus, we created a 3D computational model of underwater walking in extant Japanese giant salamanders (Andrias japonicus) using 3D photogrammetry and open-access graphics software (Blender) to broaden the range of testable hypotheses about the incipient stages of terrestrial locomotion. Our 3D model and software protocol represent the initial stages of an open-access pipeline that could serve as a "one-stop-shop" for studying locomotor function, from creating 3D models to analyzing the mechanics of locomotor gaits.

Brain implantation of tissue-level-soft bioelectronics via embryonic development.

The design of bioelectronics capable of stably tracking brain-wide, single-cell, and millisecond-resolved neural activities in the developing brain is critical to the study of neuroscience and neurodevelopmental disorders. During development, the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the vertebrate brain arises from a 2D neural plate . These large morphological changes previously posed a challenge for implantable bioelectronics to track neural activity throughout brain development .

Tissue-embedded stretchable nanoelectronics reveal endothelial cell-mediated electrical maturation of human 3D cardiac microtissues.

Clinical translation of stem cell therapies for heart disease requires electrical integration of transplanted cardiomyocytes. Generation of electrically matured human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) is critical for electrical integration. Here, we found that hiPSC-derived endothelial cells (hiPSC-ECs) promoted the expression of selected maturation markers in hiPSC-CMs.