M2 Macrophage Membrane-Camouflaged Fe O -Cy7 Nanoparticles with Reduced Immunogenicity for Targeted NIR/MR Imaging of Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis （AS） is the primary reason behind cardiovascular diseases, leading to approximately one-third of global deaths. Developing a novel multi-model probe to detect AS is urgently required. Macrophages are the primary cells from which AS genesis occurs.

Chlorin e6 (Ce6)-loaded plaque-specific liposome with enhanced photodynamic therapy effect for atherosclerosis treatment.

Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been considered as a new strategy for atherosclerosis treatment. Targeted delivery of photosensitizer could significantly reduce its toxicity and enhance its phototherapeutic efficiency. CD68 is an antibody that can be conjugated to nano-drug delivery systems to actively target plaque sites, owing to its specific binding to CD68 receptors that are highly expressed on the surfaces of macrophage-derived foam cells.

Continuous contractile force and electrical signal recordings of 3D cardiac tissue utilizing conductive hydrogel pillars on a chip.

Heart-on-chip emerged as a potential tool for cardiac tissue engineering, recapitulating key physiological cues in cardiac pathophysiology. Controlled electrical stimulation and the ability to provide directly analyzed functional readouts are essential to evaluate the physiology of cardiac tissues in the heart-on-chip platforms. In this scenario, a novel heart-on-chip platform integrating two soft conductive hydrogel pillar electrodes was presented here.

Recent Advances in the Application of Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials for Neural Tissue Engineering and Regeneration.

The complexity of the nervous system structure and function, and its slow regeneration rate, makes it more difficult to treat compared to other tissues in the human body when an injury occurs. Moreover, the current therapeutic approaches including the use of autografts, allografts, and pharmacological agents have several drawbacks and can not fully restore nervous system injuries. Recently, nanotechnology and tissue engineering approaches have attracted many researchers to guide tissue regeneration in an effective manner.

Electrical stimulation of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes using conductive polydopamine-reduced graphene oxide-hybrid hydrogels for constructing cardiac microtissues.

The development of diversified biomaterials in tissue engineering has been promoted by growing research into carbon-based nanomaterials. Usually, ideal scaffold materials should possess properties similar to the extracellular matrix of natural myocardial tissue. In this study, dopamine-reduced graphene oxide (GO), was prepared and doped into gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels, resulting in novel conductive and mechanical properties for controlling cell growth.

Design and fabrication of an integrated heart-on-a-chip platform for construction of cardiac tissue from human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and in situ evaluation of physiological function.

In vitro model of the human cardiac tissues generated from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) could facilitate drug discovery and patient-specific studies of physiology and disease. However, the immature state of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) compared to adult myocardium is a key defect that must be overcome to enable the potential applications of hiPSC-CMs in drug testing. For this purpose, we developed a heart-on-a-chip device that contains microfluidic channels for long-term dynamic culture of cells, platinum wire electrodes for electrical stimulation of hiPSC-CMs, and gold electrode arrays as acquisition electrodes for real-time recording electrophysiological signals of cardiac tissues.

Lithium chloride represses abdominal aortic aneurysm via regulating GSK3β/SIRT1/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Lithium chloride (LiCl), a pharmacological compound, was effective in reducing inflammation, but whether it can protect against abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is largely unknown. This study is designed to investigate therapeutic effects of LiCl on AAA and the potential mechanism. Rat AAA models were induced by periaortic application of CaCl.

Correction: High-aspect-ratio water-dispersed gold nanowires incorporated within gelatin methacrylate hydrogels for constructing cardiac tissues in vitro.

Correction for 'High-aspect-ratio water-dispersed gold nanowires incorporated within gelatin methacrylate hydrogels for constructing cardiac tissues in vitro' by Xiao-Pei Li et al., J. Mater.

High-aspect-ratio water-dispersed gold nanowires incorporated within gelatin methacrylate hydrogels for constructing cardiac tissues in vitro.

The field of cardiac tissue engineering has made significant strides in therapeutic and pharmaceutical applications, highlighted by the development of smart biomaterials. Scaffolds with appropriate properties mimicking the nature of a heart matrix will be highly beneficial for cardiac tissue engineering. In this study, high-aspect-ratio water-dispersed gold nanowires (AuNWs) were synthesized and incorporated into gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels, demonstrating enhanced electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the biomaterial scaffolds.

Easy Applied Gelatin-Based Hydrogel System for Long-Term Functional Cardiomyocyte Culture and Myocardium Formation.

Harnessing biomaterials for in vitro tissue construction has long been a research focus because of its powerful potentials in tissue engineering and pharmaceutical industry. Myocardium is a critical cardiac tissue with complex multiple muscular layers. Considering the specific characters of native cardiac tissues, it is necessary to design a biocompatible and biomimetic platform for cardiomyocyte culture and myocardium formation with sustained physiological function.