Three dimensional gels of aligned collagen fibers were patterned in vitro using microfluidic channels. Collagen fiber orientation plays an important role in cell signaling for many tissues in vivo, but alignment has been difficult to realize in vitro. For microfluidic collagen fiber alignment, collagen solution was allowed to polymerize inside polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) channels ranging from 10-400 microm in width. Collagen fiber orientation increased with smaller channel width, averaging 12+/-6 degrees from parallel for channels between 10 and 100 microm in width. In these channels 20-40% of the fibers were within 5 degrees of the channel axis. Bovine aortic endothelial cells expressing GFP-tubulin were cultured on aligned collagen substrate and found to stretch in the direction of the fibers. The use of artificially aligned collagen gels could be applied to the study of cell movement, signaling, growth, and differentiation.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10544-006-6380-z | DOI Listing |
Aesthetic Plast Surg
January 2025
Medical Research Inc., Wonju, Korea.
The pursuit of aesthetically pleasing shoulder contours, particularly those characterised by a sharp, angular definition, has gained significant traction in Southeast Asia. Traditionally, neuromodulators have been used to achieve these results by inducing muscle atrophy, particularly in the trapezius muscles. However, this approach can carry potential risks, such as compromised muscle function and spinal instability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiofabrication
January 2025
College of Textiles & Clothing, Qingdao University, 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071, CHINA.
The design and development of advanced surgical sutures with appropriate structure and abundant bio-functions are urgently required for the chronic wound closure and treatment. In this study, an integrated technique routine combining modified electrospinning with hot stretching process was proposed and implemented to fabricate poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofiber sutures, and the Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge-Radix Puerariae herbal compound (SRHC) was encapsulated into PLLA nanofibers during the electrospinning process to enrich the biofunction of as-generated sutures. All the PLLA sutures loading without or with SRHC were found to exhibit bead-free and highly-aligned nanofiber structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Bioeng Biotechnol
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, New York, NY, United States.
Many biological fibrous tissues exhibit distinctive mechanical properties arising from their highly organized fibrous structure. In disease conditions, alterations in the primary components of these fibers, such as type I collagen molecules in bone, tendons, and ligaments, assembly into a disorganized fibers architecture generating a weak and/or brittle material. Being able to quantitatively assess the fibers orientation and organization in biological tissue may help improve our understanding of their contribution to the tissue and organ mechanical integrity, and assess disease progress and therapy effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cell Dev Biol
January 2025
Mathematical Institute, Faculty of Science, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
Many mammalian cells, including endothelial cells and fibroblasts, align and elongate along the orientation of extracellular matrix (ECM) fibers in a gel when cultured . During cell elongation, clusters of focal adhesions (FAs) form near the poles of the elongating cells. FAs are mechanosensitive clusters of adhesions that grow under mechanical tension exerted by the cells' pulling on the ECM and shrink when the tension is released.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomaterials
January 2025
Department of Nanomedicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address:
Contrasting findings are presented in the literature regarding the influence of foreign body response (FBR) on drug release from implantable drug delivery systems. To this end, here we sought direct evidence of the effect of the fibrotic tissue on subcutaneous drug release from long-acting drug delivery implants. Specifically, we investigated the pharmacokinetic impact of fibrotic encapsulation on a small molecule drug, islatravir (293 Da), and a large protein, IgG (150 kDa), administered via biocompatible implants.
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