Publications by authors named "W A Fowler"

The extracellular matrix was originally thought of as simply a cellular scaffold but is now considered a key regulator of cell function and phenotype from which cells can derive biochemical and mechanical stimuli. Age-associated changes in matrix composition drive increases in matrix stiffness. Enhanced matrix stiffness promotes the progression of numerous diseases including cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disease, fibrosis, and cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to analyze the types of microorganisms that colonize punctal plugs and intracanalicular stents used for tear insufficiency and eye surgeries.
  • The researchers collected and cultured 181 devices from participants and found that over half (54%) were culture positive, revealing a variety of microorganisms, mainly skin and upper respiratory flora.
  • No clinical infections were reported, but the findings suggest that these ocular devices can harbor potentially harmful bacteria, indicating a need for monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are highly tunable molecules that were recently found to exhibit aggregation-induced emission (AIE) when they self-assemble into nanofibers. Here, we leverage decades of molecular design and self-assembly study of PAs to strategically tune their molecular motion within nanofibers to enhance AIE, making them a highly useful platform for applications such as sensing, bioimaging, or materials property characterization. Since AIE increases when aggregated molecules are rigidly and closely packed, we altered the four most closely packed amino acids nearest to the hydrophobic core by varying the order and composition of glycine, alanine, and valine pairs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The unique and precise capabilities of proteins are renowned for their specificity and range of application. Effective mimicking of protein-binding offers enticing potential to direct their abilities toward useful applications, but it is nevertheless quite difficult to realize this characteristic of protein behavior in a synthetic material. Here, we design, synthesize, and evaluate experimentally and computationally a series of multicomponent phosphate-binding peptide amphiphile micelles to derive design insights into how protein binding behavior translates to synthetic materials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_session9tiaiidgmatf7uiplq77sj7sfgmurq3e): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once