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Taylor A, Xu J, Rogozinski N, Fu H, Molina Cortez L, McMahan S, Perez K, Chang Y, Pan Z, Yang H, Liao J, Hong Y. Reduced Graphene-Oxide-Doped Elastic Biodegradable Polyurethane Fibers for Cardiomyocyte Maturation. ACS Biomater Sci Eng 2024; 10:3759-3774. [PMID: 38800901 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c01908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Conductive biomaterials offer promising solutions to enhance the maturity of cultured cardiomyocytes. While the conventional culture of cardiomyocytes on nonconductive materials leads to more immature characteristics, conductive microenvironments have the potential to support sarcomere development, gap junction formation, and beating of cardiomyocytes in vitro. In this study, we systematically investigated the behaviors of cardiomyocytes on aligned electrospun fibrous membranes composed of elastic and biodegradable polyurethane (PU) doped with varying concentrations of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Compared to PU and PU-4%rGO membranes, the PU-10%rGO membrane exhibited the highest conductivity, approaching levels close to those of native heart tissue. The PU-rGO membranes retained anisotropic viscoelastic behavior similar to that of the porcine left ventricle and a superior tensile strength. Neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs) and human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) on the PU-rGO membranes displayed enhanced maturation with cell alignment and enhanced sarcomere structure and gap junction formation with PU-10%rGO having the most improved sarcomere structure and CX-43 presence. hiPSC-CMs on the PU-rGO membranes exhibited a uniform and synchronous beating pattern compared with that on PU membranes. Overall, PU-10%rGO exhibited the best performance for cardiomyocyte maturation. The conductive PU-rGO membranes provide a promising matrix for in vitro cardiomyocyte culture with promoted cell maturation/functionality and the potential for cardiac disease treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Taylor
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Jiazhu Xu
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Nicholas Rogozinski
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76207, United States
| | - Huikang Fu
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Lia Molina Cortez
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Sara McMahan
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Karla Perez
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Yan Chang
- Department of Graduate Nursing, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76010, United States
| | - Zui Pan
- Department of Graduate Nursing, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76010, United States
| | - Huaxiao Yang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76207, United States
| | - Jun Liao
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
| | - Yi Hong
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019, United States
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Wu ZP, Bloom KS, Forest MG, Cao XZ. Transient crosslinking controls the condensate formation pathway within chromatin networks. Phys Rev E 2024; 109:L042401. [PMID: 38755828 PMCID: PMC11137846 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.109.l042401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
The network structure of densely packed chromatin within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells acts in concert with nonequilibrium processes. Using statistical physics simulations, we explore the control provided by transient crosslinking of the chromatin network by structural-maintenance-of-chromosome (SMC) proteins over (i) the physical properties of the chromatin network and (ii) condensate formation of embedded molecular species. We find that the density and lifetime of transient SMC crosslinks regulate structural relaxation modes and tune the sol-vs-gel state of the chromatin network, which imparts control over the kinetic pathway to condensate formation. Specifically, lower density, shorter-lived crosslinks induce sollike networks and a droplet-fusion pathway, whereas higher density, longer-lived crosslinks induce gellike networks and an Ostwald-ripening pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zong-Pei Wu
- Department of Physics at Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R. China
| | - Kerry S. Bloom
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - M. Gregory Forest
- Departments of Mathematics, Applied Physical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Xue-Zheng Cao
- Department of Physics at Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R. China
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Li J, Zhang B, Li Y. Glass Formation in Mechanically Interlocked Ring Polymers: The Role of Induced Chain Stiffness. Macromolecules 2023. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jian Li
- Department of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Heze University, Heze274015, China
| | - Bokai Zhang
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing400715, China
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou310018, China
| | - Yushan Li
- Department of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Heze University, Heze274015, China
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Zhang B, Li J, Hu J, Liu L. Theory of polymer diffusion in polymer-nanoparticle mixtures: effect of nanoparticle concentration and polymer length. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:4632-4642. [PMID: 33949610 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm00226k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The dynamics of polymer-nanoparticle (NP) mixtures, which involves multiple scales and system-specific variables, has posed a long-standing challenge on its theoretical description. In this paper, we construct a microscopic theory for polymer diffusion in mixtures based on a combination of the generalized Langevin equation, mode-coupling approach, and polymer physics ideas. The parameter-free theory has an explicit expression and remains tractable on a pair correlation level with system-specific equilibrium structures as input. Taking a minimal polymer-NP mixture as an example, our theory correctly captures the dependence of polymer diffusion on NP concentration and average interparticle distance. Importantly, the polymer diffusion exhibits a power law decay as the polymer length increases at dense NPs and/or a long chain, which marks the emergence of entanglement-like motion. The work provides a first-principles theoretical foundation to investigate dynamic problems in diverse polymer nanocomposites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bokai Zhang
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Jian Li
- Department of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Heze University, Heze 274015, China
| | - Juanmei Hu
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
| | - Lei Liu
- Department of Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China.
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Li W, Cao X, Merlitz H, Wu C. Rouse Mode Analysis of Relaxation in Polymer Blends. MACROMOL THEOR SIMUL 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/mats.202000084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Li
- Department of Physics Xiamen University Xiamen 361005 P. R. China
| | - Xue‐Zheng Cao
- Department of Physics Xiamen University Xiamen 361005 P. R. China
| | - Holger Merlitz
- Leibniz‐Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden Dresden 01069 Germany
| | - Chen‐Xu Wu
- Department of Physics Xiamen University Xiamen 361005 P. R. China
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