Osteoinductivity of polycaprolactone nanofibers grafted functionalized with carboxymethyl chitosan: Synergic effect of β-carotene and electromagnetic field.

In this study, carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) was grafted on polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers to fabricate scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The electrospun PCL nanofibers were treated by cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) of helium to generate the reactive functions necessary for CMC grafting. β-carotene (βC) as a biochemical clue and electromagnetic field (EMF, 31.

Plasmonic biosensors fabricated by galvanic displacement reactions for monitoring biomolecular interactions in real time.

Optical sensors are prepared by reduction of gold ions using freshly etched hydride-terminated porous silicon, and their ability to specifically detect binding between protein A/rabbit IgG and asialofetuin/Erythrina cristagalli lectin is studied. The fabrication process is simple, fast, and reproducible, and does not require complicated lab equipment. The resulting nanostructured gold layer on silicon shows an optical response in the visible range based on the excitation of localized surface plasmon resonance.

Switching enzyme activity by a temperature responsive inhibitor modified polymer.

A thermoresponsive NIPAAm-based polymer is combined with the selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitor tacrine in order to create a strict in sense on/off switch for enzymatic activity. This polymer-inhibitor conjugate inhibits AChE at room temperature and enables reactivation of AChE by heating above the cloud point of the conjugate.

Bone morphogenic protein-2 immobilization by cold atmospheric plasma to enhance the osteoinductivity of carboxymethyl chitosan-based nanofibers.

Electrospun polycaprolactone/carboxymethyl chitosan (PCL/CMC) nanofibers treated by helium cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) and grafted with bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2) were used scaffolds for the osteodifferentiation of stem cells to. For in vitro study, human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were cultured on these scaffolds, and their behaviors were assessed via optical microscopy, MTT assay, and SEM. The osteogenic differentiation of the hMSCs was evaluated by calcium content and alkaline phosphatase assays, Alizarin red and immunofluorescence (ICC) staining, and RT-PCR.

Polarization Gratings in Azobenzene-Based Fully Liquid Crystalline Triblock Copolymer.

Photosensitive liquid crystalline (LC) block copolymers are a universal platform for designing functional materials for optics and photonics. Here, azobenzene LC ABA triblock copolymer containing mesogenic groups in each block is studied as a medium for the recording of polarization holographic gratings. The fast recording of polarization gratings is successfully performed with two orthogonally circularly polarized light beams of a 532-nm laser.

HELP-(Heparin-induced Extracorporeal LDL Precipitation)-apheresis in heart recipients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy and concomitant hypercholesterolemia: Influence of long-term treatment on the microcirculation.

Hyperlipidemic heart transplant patients who develop cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) benefit from HELP-apheresis (Heparin-induced Extracorporeal LDL Precipitation) which enables drastic lowering of plasma low-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein (a), and fibrinogen. There is evidence that HELP-apheresis also improves microcirculation by an immediate improvement of impaired endothelial-dependent vasodilatation and additive hemorheological effects.Therefore, cutaneous microcirculation was examined before, during, and after the first HELP-apheresis in eight hyperlipidemic cardiac transplant recipients with CAV.

Vascular Endothelial Cell Biology: An Update.

The vascular endothelium, a monolayer of endothelial cells (EC), constitutes the inner cellular lining of arteries, veins and capillaries and therefore is in direct contact with the components and cells of blood. The endothelium is not only a mere barrier between blood and tissues but also an endocrine organ. It actively controls the degree of vascular relaxation and constriction, and the extravasation of solutes, fluid, macromolecules and hormones, as well as that of platelets and blood cells.

Biocatalytically active microgels by precipitation polymerization of -isopropyl acrylamide in the presence of an enzyme.

We present a novel protocol for the synthesis of enzymatically active microgels. The protocol is based on the precipitation polymerization of -isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) in the presence of an enzyme and a protein binding comonomer. A basic investigation on the influence of different reaction parameters such as monomer concentration and reaction temperature on the microgel size and size distribution is performed and immobilization yields are determined.

Temperature-Controlled Solvent Vapor Annealing of Thin Block Copolymer Films.

Solvent vapor annealing is as an effective and versatile alternative to thermal annealing to equilibrate and control the assembly of polymer chains in thin films. Here, we present scientific and practical aspects of the solvent vapor annealing method, including the discussion of such factors as non-equilibrium conformational states and chain dynamics in thin films in the presence of solvent. Homopolymer and block copolymer films have been used in model studies to evaluate the robustness and the reproducibility of the solvent vapor processing, as well as to assess polymer-solvent interactions under confinement.

Tailoring patches on particles: a modified microcontact printing routine using polymer-functionalised stamps.

Herein, we report a modified microcontact printing (μCP) routine suitable to introduce particle patches of a low molecular weight ink (LMWI) on porous SiO2 microparticles. Thereby, patch precision could be significantly improved by utilising stamps which have been surface-functionalised with grafted polymers. This improvement was evaluated by a profound software-assisted statistical analysis.

In Situ Monitoring of Membrane Protein Insertion into Block Copolymer Vesicle Membranes and Their Spreading via Potential-Assisted Approach.

Synthosomes are polymer vesicles with transmembrane proteins incorporated into block copolymer membranes. They have been used for selective transport in or out of the vesicles as well as catalysis inside the compartments. However, both the insertion process of the membrane protein, forming nanopores, and the spreading of the vesicles on planar substrates to form solid-supported biomimetic membranes have been rarely studied yet.

Switch It Inside-Out: "Schizophrenic" Behavior of All Thermoresponsive UCST-LCST Diblock Copolymers.

This feature article reviews our recent advancements on the synthesis, phase behavior, and micellar structures of diblock copolymers consisting of oppositely thermoresponsive blocks in aqueous environments. These copolymers combine a nonionic block, which shows lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior, with a zwitterionic block that exhibits an upper critical solution temperature (UCST). The transition temperature of the latter class of polymers is strongly controlled by its molar mass and by the salt concentration, in contrast to the rather invariant transition of nonionic polymers with type II LCST behavior such as poly(-isopropylacrylamide) or poly(-isopropyl methacrylamide).

Epigenetics-Shedding Light on the Path Ahead for Material Sciences.

The harmonious regulation of bodily function is a necessity for healthy individuals. Looking from the viewpoint of material sciences, one can only marvel at the cellular factories, their renewal, and the overall control of messaging and control of responses. As aging progresses and/or pathologies arise, clinicians may be forced to look for replacement of organs/tissues with medical devices.

Additive Manufacturing of Information Carriers Based on Shape Memory Polyester Urethane.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are stimuli-responsive materials, which are able to retain an imposed, temporary shape and recover the initial, permanent shape through an external stimulus like heat. In this work, a novel manufacturing method is introduced for thermoresponsive quick response (QR) code carriers, which originally were developed as anticounterfeiting technology. Motivated by the fact that earlier manufacturing processes were sometimes too time-consuming for production, filaments of a polyester urethane (PEU) with and without dye were extruded and processed into QR code carriers using fused filament fabrication (FFF).

Functional Glyco-Nanogels for Multivalent Interaction with Lectins.

Interactions between glycans and proteins have tremendous impact in biomolecular interactions. They are important for cell-cell interactions, proliferation and much more. Here, we emphasize the glycan-mediated interactions between pathogens and host cells.

Synthesis of Polystyrene-Coated Superparamagnetic and Ferromagnetic Cobalt Nanoparticles.

Polystyrene-coated cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through a dual-stage thermolysis of cobalt carbonyl (Co₂(CO)₈). The amine end-functionalized polystyrene surfactants with varying molecular weight were prepared via atom-transfer radical polymerization technique. By changing the concentration of these polymeric surfactants, Co NPs with different size, size distribution, and magnetic properties were obtained.

Mono-patchy zwitterionic microcolloids as building blocks for pH-controlled self-assembly.

A directional molecular interaction between microcolloids can be achieved through pre-defined sites on their surface, "patches", which might make them follow each other in a controlled way and assemble into target structures of more complexity. In this article, we report the successful generation and characterization of mono-patchy melamine-formaldehyde microparticles with oppositely charged patches made of poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic acid) or polyethyleneimine via microcontact printing. The study of their self-aggregation behavior in solution shows that by change of pH, particle dimers are formed via attractive electrostatic force between the patchy and non-patchy surface of the particles, which reaches its optimum at a specific pH.

Dynamic Diffractive Patterns in Helix-Inverting Cholesteric Liquid Crystals.

The future of adaptive materials will rely on transduction of molecular motion across increasing length scales, up to the macroscopic and functional level. In this context, liquid crystals have emerged as a promising amplification medium, in view of their long-range order and high sensitivity to external stimuli, and in particular, chiral liquid crystals have demonstrated widely tunable optical properties and invertible handedness. Here, we demonstrate that by applying weak electric fields, regular, periodic and light-tunable patterns can be formed spontaneously in cholesteric liquid crystals.

Rapid Drop-Test for Lectin Binding with Glycopolymer-Coated Optical Ring Resonators.

We fabricated a simple sensor system for qualitative analysis of glycan-mediated interactions. Our main aim was to establish a ronbbust system that allowes drop-tests without complex fluidics. The test system should be usable in routine analytics in the future and bear sufficient sensitivity to detect binding events in the nanomolar range.

Broadening the scope of sortagging.

Sortases are enzymes occurring in the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria. Sortase A (SrtA), the best studied sortase class, plays a key role in anchoring surface proteins with the recognition sequence LPXTG covalently to oligoglycine units of the bacterial cell wall. This unique transpeptidase activity renders SrtA attractive for various purposes and motivated researchers to study multiple and ligations in the last decades.

Characteristics of microcontact printing with polyelectrolyte ink for the precise preparation of patches on silica particles.

This publication demonstrates the abilities of a precise and straightforward microcontact printing approach for the preparation of patchy silica particles. In a broad particle size range, it is possible to finely tune the number and parameters of three-dimensional patches like diameter and thickness using only polyethyleneimine ink, poly(dimethoxysilane) as stamp material and a suitable release solvent.

Manufacturing of All Inkjet-Printed Organic Photovoltaic Cell Arrays and Evaluating their Suitability for Flexible Electronics.

The generation of electrical energy depending on renewable sources is rapidly growing and gaining serious attention due to its green sustainability. With fewer adverse impacts on the environment, the sun is considered as a nearly infinite source of renewable energy in the production of electrical energy using photovoltaic devices. On the other end, organic photovoltaic (OPV) is the class of solar cells that offers several advantages such as mechanical flexibility, solution processability, environmental friendliness, and being lightweight.

Magnetic Field-Induced Assembly of Superparamagnetic Cobalt Nanoparticles on Substrates and at Liquid-Air Interface.

Superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticles (Co NPs) are an interesting material for self-assembly processes because of their magnetic properties. We investigated the magnetic field-induced assembly of superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticles and compared three different approaches, namely, the assembly on solid substrates, at water-air, and ethylene glycol-air interfaces. Oleic acid- and trioctylphosphine oxide-coated Co NPs were synthesized via a thermolysis of cobalt carbonyl and dispersed into either hexane or toluene.

CuS nanoplates from ionic liquid precursors-Application in organic photovoltaic cells.

Hexagonal p-type semiconductor CuS nanoplates were synthesized via a hot injection method from bis(trimethylsilyl)sulfide and the ionic liquid precursor bis(-dodecylpyridinium) tetrachloridocuprate(ii). The particles have a broad size distribution with diameters between 30 and 680 nm and well-developed crystal habits. The nanoplates were successfully incorporated into organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells as hole conduction materials.

Knockdown of PCBER1, a gene of neolignan biosynthesis, resulted in increased poplar growth.

Poplar trees displayed an increased plant height due to the transgenic knockdown of PCBER1, a gene of lignan biosynthesis. The wood composition was slightly altered in both overexpression and knockdown lines. The gene PHENYLCOUMARAN BENZYLIC ETHER REDUCTASE1 (PCBER1) is well known as an important gene in the synthesis of lignans, a group of diverse phenylpropanoid derivatives.