Publications by authors named "N J Dunne"
Cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) have gained rapid attention over the last 25 years; this is attributed to their versatility, customisation, and 'Trojan horse' delivery that evades the immune system. However, the current CPP rational design process is limited, as it requires several rounds of peptide synthesis, prediction and wet-lab validation, which is expensive, time-consuming and requires extensive knowledge in peptide chemistry. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising alternative which can augment the design process, for example by determining physiochemical characteristics, secondary structure, solvent accessibility, disorder and flexibility, as well as predicting in vivo behaviour such as toxicity and peptidase degradation.
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- - The study investigates how tendon maturation into strong tissue is regulated, noting significant mechanical property changes in chick embryos between days E16 and E18, but lacking clarity on the underlying cellular and molecular factors.
- - Researchers analyzed late tendon development by examining collagen fiber alignment, cell organization, and Yap pathway activity, assessing the impact of both constant loading and no loading on tendon maturation.
- - Findings revealed that YAP signaling is influenced by movement, with collagen alignment improving under static loading; however, immobilization disrupted the organized structure of tendon cells, highlighting the importance of dynamic stimulation for proper tendon development.
Article Synopsis
- There is a significant increase in the mechanical properties and load-bearing capabilities of tendons during embryonic development, but the exact structural elements contributing to this growth are not fully understood.
- Researchers used various methods, including shear lag modeling and mechanical testing, to analyze the changes in tendon structure and function in embryonic chick development, revealing that increases in fibril length and crosslinking are key to enhanced mechanics.
- Inhibiting collagen crosslinking and inducing muscle paralysis demonstrated that both crosslink formation and fibril elongation are essential for developing strong load-bearing tendons and are sensitive to mechanical stimulation.
Wearable piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) are increasingly significant in healthcare and energy harvesting applications due to their ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical signals. In this study, we developed PENGs by incorporating crab shell powder (CS-NFs) into electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers to enhance their piezoelectric properties. The PVDF-CS-NFs (PC-NFs) composites were evaluated for structural, thermal, and piezoelectric performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo realize high-quality vascularized bone regeneration, we developed a multifunctional hydrogel (SHPP-ZB) by incorporating BMP-2@ZIF-8/PEG-NH nanoparticles (NPs) into a sodium alginate/hydroxyapatite/polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel loaded with PDGF-BB, allowing for the sequential release of angiogenic and osteogenic growth factors (GFs) during bone repair. ZIF-8 served as a protective host for BMP-2 from degradation, ensuring high encapsulation efficiency and long-term bioactivity. The SHPP-ZB hydrogel exhibited enhanced mechanical strength and injectability, making it suitable for complex bone defects.
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