Scaffold-Free Liver-On-A-Chip with Multiscale Organotypic Cultures.

The considerable advances that have been made in the development of organotypic cultures have failed to overcome the challenges of expressing tissue-specific functions and complexities, especially for organs that require multitasking and complex biological processes, such as the liver. Primary liver cells are ideal biological building blocks for functional organotypic reconstruction, but are limited by their rapid loss of physiological integrity in vitro. Here the concept of lattice growth used in material science is applied to develop a tissue incubator, which provides physiological cues and controls the 3D assembly of primary cells.

Cetuximab-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles for cancer imaging and therapy.

We have developed a theranostic nanoparticle, ie, cet-PEG-dexSPIONs, by conjugation of the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody, cetuximab, to dextran-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) via periodate oxidation. Approximately 31 antibody molecules were conjugated to each nanoparticle. Cet-PEG-dexSPIONs specifically bind to EGFR-expressing tumor cells and enhance image contrast on magnetic resonance imaging.

Modulation of formation of the 3'-end of the human argininosuccinate synthetase mRNA by GT-repeat polymorphism.

Microsatellites are abundant in the human genome and may acquire context-dependent functions. A highly polymorphic GT microsatellite is located downstream of the poly(A) signal of the human argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1) gene. The ASS1 participates in urea and nitric oxide production and is a rate-limiting enzyme in arginine biosynthesis.

A microfluidic device mimicking acinar concentration gradients across the liver acinus.

The acinus-mimicking microfluidic chip, which simulates the in vivo condition of the liver, was developed and reported in this paper. The gradient microenvironment of the liver acinus is replicated within this proposed microfluidic chip. The advantage of this acinus-mimicking chip is capable of adjusting the concentration gradient in a relatively short period of time at around 10 s.