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Kosmidis Papadimitriou A, Chong SW, Shen Y, Lee OS, Knowles TPJ, Grover LM, Vigolo D. Fabrication of gradient hydrogels using a thermophoretic approach in microfluidics. Biofabrication 2024; 16:025023. [PMID: 38377611 DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/ad2b05] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
The extracellular matrix presents spatially varying physical cues that can influence cell behavior in many processes. Physical gradients within hydrogels that mimic the heterogenous mechanical microenvironment are useful to study the impact of these cues on cellular responses. Therefore, simple and reliable techniques to create such gradient hydrogels are highly desirable. This work demonstrates the fabrication of stiffness gradient Gellan gum (GG) hydrogels by applying a temperature gradient across a microchannel containing hydrogel precursor solution. Thermophoretic migration of components within the precursor solution generates a concentration gradient that mirrors the temperature gradient profile, which translates into mechanical gradients upon crosslinking. Using this technique, GG hydrogels with stiffness gradients ranging from 20 to 90 kPa over 600µm are created, covering the elastic moduli typical of moderately hard to hard tissues. MC3T3 osteoblast cells are then cultured on these gradient substrates, which exhibit preferential migration and enhanced osteogenic potential toward the stiffest region on the gradient. Overall, the thermophoretic approach provides a non-toxic and effective method to create hydrogels with defined mechanical gradients at the micron scale suitable forin vitrobiological studies and potentially tissue engineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shin Wei Chong
- The University of Sydney, School of Biomedical Engineering, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Yi Shen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
- The University of Sydney, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Oisin Stefan Lee
- The University of Sydney, School of Biomedical Engineering, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Tuomas P J Knowles
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom
| | - Liam M Grover
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Daniele Vigolo
- School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
- The University of Sydney, School of Biomedical Engineering, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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2
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Santos TP, Calabrese V, Boehm MW, Baier SK, Shen AQ. Flow-induced alignment of protein nanofibril dispersions. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 638:487-497. [PMID: 36758259 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.01.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS Protein nanofibrils (PNF) resulting from the self-assembly of proteins or peptides can present structural ordering triggered by numerous factors, including the shear flow. We hypothesize that i) depending on the contour length of the PNF and the magnitude of the shear rate applied to the PNF dispersion, they exhibit specific orientation, and ii) it is possible to predict the alignment of PNF by establishing a flow-alignment relationship. Understanding such a relationship is pivotal to improving the fundamental knowledge and application of fibril systems. EXPERIMENTS We use β-lactoglobulin PNF aqueous dispersions with different average contour lengths but equal persistence lengths. We employ simple shear-dominated microfluidic devices with state-of-the-art imaging techniques: flow-induced birefringence (FIB) and micro-particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV), to probe the effect of shear flow on PNF alignment. FINDINGS We provide an empirical relationship connecting the birefringence Δn (quantifying the extent of PNF alignment), and the Péclet number Pe (correlating the shear rate of the flow relative to the rotational diffusion of PNF) to understand the flow-alignment behavior of PNF under shear-dominated flows. Furthermore, we assess the alignment and flow profile of PNF at both high and low flow rates. The length of PNF emerges as a controlling parameter capable of modulating PNF alignment at specific shear rates. Our results shed new insights into the hydrodynamic behavior of PNF, which is highly relevant to various industrial processes involving the fibril systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana P Santos
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Vincenzo Calabrese
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | | | - Stefan K Baier
- Motif FoodWorks, Inc., Boston, MA, USA; The University of Queensland School of Chemical Engineering, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
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3
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Pu D, Panahi A, Natale G, Benneker AM. Colloid thermophoresis in the dilute electrolyte concentration regime: from theory to experiment. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:3464-3474. [PMID: 37129579 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01668k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Colloid thermophoresis in aqueous media is vital for numerous applications in nanoscience and life sciences. To date, a general description of colloid thermophoresis in DI water has not been determined. Here, we describe a theoretical model within the framework of the Fokker-Planck formalism and the flickering cluster concept to describe the hydration entropy effect on the thermophoretic behaviour of colloids suspended in DI water and compare this to new experimental results. We built an experimental platform to allow for rapid and robust temperature control and investigate the thermophoretic behaviour of silica microspheres with different sizes at various background temperatures for comparison. In this work, the ionic shielding effect is accounted for by using the well-known Duhr-Dhont's model, and the hydration layer effect is determined using the developed theoretical model. For the latter, our model reveals that the sign of the Soret coefficient is governed by the interplay between the binding energy and the chemical potential of water molecules, which were found to be in the same order of magnitude. We show that our analysis accurately describes the experimental behaviour of colloidal particles that opens a new avenue for developing versatile trapping and separation techniques for various colloidal particles in aqueous systems according to their size and background temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Pu
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
| | - Amirreza Panahi
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
| | - Giovanniantonio Natale
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
| | - Anne M Benneker
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
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4
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Peydayesh M, Kistler S, Zhou J, Lutz-Bueno V, Victorelli FD, Meneguin AB, Spósito L, Bauab TM, Chorilli M, Mezzenga R. Amyloid-polysaccharide interfacial coacervates as therapeutic materials. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1848. [PMID: 37012278 PMCID: PMC10070338 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37629-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Coacervation via liquid-liquid phase separation provides an excellent opportunity to address the challenges of designing nanostructured biomaterials with multiple functionalities. Protein-polysaccharide coacervates, in particular, offer an appealing strategy to target biomaterial scaffolds, but these systems suffer from the low mechanical and chemical stabilities of protein-based condensates. Here we overcome these limitations by transforming native proteins into amyloid fibrils and demonstrate that the coacervation of cationic protein amyloids and anionic linear polysaccharides results in the interfacial self-assembly of biomaterials with precise control of their structure and properties. The coacervates present a highly ordered asymmetric architecture with amyloid fibrils on one side and the polysaccharide on the other. We demonstrate the excellent performance of these coacervates for gastric ulcer protection by validating via an in vivo assay their therapeutic effect as engineered microparticles. These results point at amyloid-polysaccharides coacervates as an original and effective biomaterial for multiple uses in internal medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Peydayesh
- ETH Zurich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sabrina Kistler
- ETH Zurich, Department of Materials, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jiangtao Zhou
- ETH Zurich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Viviane Lutz-Bueno
- ETH Zurich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
- Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | | | - Andréia Bagliotti Meneguin
- Department of Drugs and Medicines, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University, 14800-903, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Larissa Spósito
- Department of Drugs and Medicines, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University, 14800-903, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University, 14800-903, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Tais Maria Bauab
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University, 14800-903, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marlus Chorilli
- Department of Drugs and Medicines, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University, 14800-903, Araraquara, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- ETH Zurich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
- ETH Zurich, Department of Materials, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
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5
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Usuelli M, Ruzzi V, Buzzaccaro S, Nyström G, Piazza R, Mezzenga R. Unraveling gelation kinetics, arrested dynamics and relaxation phenomena in filamentous colloids by photon correlation imaging. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:5632-5644. [PMID: 35861104 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01578h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The fundamental understanding of the gelation kinetics, stress relaxation and temporal evolution in colloidal filamentous gels is central to many aspects of soft and biological matter, yet a complete description of the inherent complex dynamics of these systems is still missing. By means of photon correlation imaging (PCI), we studied the gelation of amyloid fibril solutions, chosen as a model filamentous colloid with immediate significance to biology and nanotechnology, upon passage of ions through a semi-permeable membrane. We observed a linear-in-time evolution of the gelation front and rich rearrangement dynamics of the gels, the magnitude and the spatial propagation of which depend on how effectively electrostatic interactions are screened by different ionic strengths. Our analysis confirms the pivotal role of salt concentration in tuning the properties of amyloid gels, and suggests potential routes for explaining the physical mechanisms behind the linear advance of the salt ions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Usuelli
- ETH Zürich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Vincenzo Ruzzi
- Department of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemical Engineering (CMIC), Politecnico di Milano, Edificio 6, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
| | - Stefano Buzzaccaro
- Department of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemical Engineering (CMIC), Politecnico di Milano, Edificio 6, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
| | - Gustav Nyström
- ETH Zürich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
- EMPA, Laboratory for Cellulose & Wood Materials, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Roberto Piazza
- Department of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemical Engineering (CMIC), Politecnico di Milano, Edificio 6, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- ETH Zürich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
- ETH Zürich, Department of Materials, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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6
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Shape and structural relaxation of colloidal tactoids. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2778. [PMID: 35589676 PMCID: PMC9120485 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30123-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Facile geometric-structural response of liquid crystalline colloids to external fields enables many technological advances. However, the relaxation mechanisms for liquid crystalline colloids under mobile boundaries remain still unexplored. Here, by combining experiments, numerical simulations and theory, we describe the shape and structural relaxation of colloidal liquid crystalline micro-droplets, called tactoids, where amyloid fibrils and cellulose nanocrystals are used as model systems. We show that tactoids shape relaxation bears a universal single exponential decay signature and derive an analytic expression to predict this out of equilibrium process, which is governed by liquid crystalline anisotropic and isotropic contributions. The tactoids structural relaxation shows fundamentally different paths, with first- and second-order exponential decays, depending on the existence of splay/bend/twist orientation structures in the ground state. Our findings offer a comprehensive understanding on dynamic confinement effects in liquid crystalline colloidal systems and may set unexplored directions in the development of novel responsive materials. Tactoids, consisting of micro-confined liquid crystalline colloids with self-selected shape, bear both fundamental and technological significance. The authors show that the shape relaxation of tactoids follows an exponential decay and develop a model to predict this out-of-the-equilibrium process.
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7
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Lee N, Afanasenkau D, Rinklin P, Wolfrum B, Wiegand S. Temperature profile characterization with fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy in a thermophoretic chip. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. E, SOFT MATTER 2021; 44:130. [PMID: 34668081 PMCID: PMC8526468 DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-021-00133-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
This study introduces a thermophoretic lab-on-a-chip device to measure the Soret coefficient. We use resistive heating of a microwire on the chip to induce a temperature gradient, which is measured by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). To verify the functionality of the device, we used dyed polystyrene particles with a diameter of 25 nm. A confocal microscope is utilized to monitor the concentration profile of colloidal particles in the temperature field. Based on the measured temperature and concentration differences, we calculate the corresponding Soret coefficient. The same particles have been recently investigated with thermal diffusion forced Rayleigh scattering (TDFRS) and we find that the obtained Soret coefficients agree with literature results. This chip offers a simple way to study the thermophoretic behavior of biological systems in multicomponent buffer solutions quantitatively, which are difficult to study with optical methods solely relying on the refractive index contrast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Namkyu Lee
- IBI-4:Biomacromolecular Systems and Processes, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52428, Jülich, Germany
| | - Dzmitry Afanasenkau
- Technische Universität Dresden Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, D-01062, Dresden, Germany
| | - Philipp Rinklin
- Neuroelectronics, Munich School of Bioengineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, D-85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Bernhard Wolfrum
- Neuroelectronics, Munich School of Bioengineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, D-85748, Garching bei München, Germany
| | - Simone Wiegand
- IBI-4:Biomacromolecular Systems and Processes, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52428, Jülich, Germany.
- Chemistry Department-Physical Chemistry, University Cologne, D-50939, Cologne, Germany.
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8
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Usuelli M, Germerdonk T, Cao Y, Peydayesh M, Bagnani M, Handschin S, Nyström G, Mezzenga R. Polysaccharide-reinforced amyloid fibril hydrogels and aerogels. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:12534-12545. [PMID: 34263899 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr03133c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
β-Lactoglobulin amyloid fibrils are bio-colloids of high interest in many fields (e.g. water purification, cell growth, drug delivery and sensing). While the mechanical properties of pure amyloid fibril gels meet the needs of some applications, mechanical fragility often hinders a wider usage basin. In this work, we present a simple and sustainable approach for reinforcing amyloid fibril hydrogels and aerogels, upon the diffusion of polysaccharides (low-acetylated Gellan Gum and κ-carrageenan) inside their mesh. The formed hybrid materials show enhanced resistance upon compression, without any loss of the exquisite surface reactivity of the amyloid fibrils. The proposed approach can pave the way for designing composite materials that are both highly functional and environmentally friendly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Usuelli
- ETH Zürich, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
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9
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Shen Y, Levin A, Kamada A, Toprakcioglu Z, Rodriguez-Garcia M, Xu Y, Knowles TPJ. From Protein Building Blocks to Functional Materials. ACS NANO 2021; 15:5819-5837. [PMID: 33760579 PMCID: PMC8155333 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c08510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Proteins are the fundamental building blocks for high-performance materials in nature. Such materials fulfill structural roles, as in the case of silk and collagen, and can generate active structures including the cytoskeleton. Attention is increasingly turning to this versatile class of molecules for the synthesis of next-generation green functional materials for a range of applications. Protein nanofibrils are a fundamental supramolecular unit from which many macroscopic protein materials are formed. In this Review, we focus on the multiscale assembly of such protein nanofibrils formed from naturally occurring proteins into new supramolecular architectures and discuss how they can form the basis of material systems ranging from bulk gels, films, fibers, micro/nanogels, condensates, and active materials. We review current and emerging approaches to process and assemble these building blocks in a manner which is different to their natural evolutionarily selected role but allows the generation of tailored functionality, with a focus on microfluidic approaches. We finally discuss opportunities and challenges for this class of materials, including applications that can be involved in this material system which consists of fully natural, biocompatible, and biodegradable feedstocks yet has the potential to generate materials with performance and versatility rivalling that of the best synthetic polymers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Shen
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
- School
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, 2006 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Aviad Levin
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
| | - Ayaka Kamada
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
| | - Zenon Toprakcioglu
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
| | - Marc Rodriguez-Garcia
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
- Xampla, the BioInnovation Building, 25 Cambridge
Science Park Road, Cambridge CB4 0FW, U.K.
| | - Yufan Xu
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
| | - Tuomas P. J. Knowles
- Centre
for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K.
- Cavendish
Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, U.K.
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10
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Almohammadi H, Bagnani M, Mezzenga R. Flow-induced order-order transitions in amyloid fibril liquid crystalline tactoids. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5416. [PMID: 33110064 PMCID: PMC7591495 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19213-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as tactoids, forming by nucleation and growth within the phase diagram region where isotropic and nematic phases coexist, challenge our understanding of liquid crystals under confinement due to anisotropic surface boundaries at vanishingly small interfacial tension, resulting in complex, non-spherical shapes. Little is known about their dynamical properties, since they are mostly studied under quiescent, quasi-equilibrium conditions. Here we show that different classes of amyloid based nematic and cholesteric tactoids undergo order–order transitions by flow-induced deformations of their shape. Tactoids align under extensional flow, undergoing extreme deformation into highly elongated prolate shapes, with the cholesteric pitch decreasing as an inverse power-law of the tactoids aspect ratio. Free energy functional theory and experimental measurements are combined to rationalize the critical elongation above which the director-field configuration of tactoids transforms from bipolar and uniaxial cholesteric to homogenous and to debate on the thermodynamic nature of these transitions. Tactoids are liquid crystal droplets with nearly vanishing interfacial tension. Almohammadi et al. show using a microfluidic focusing device how to manipulate them gently enough to facilitate the study of amyloid liquid crystal phase transitions subject to non-equilibirum forcing and shape changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamed Almohammadi
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Massimo Bagnani
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. .,Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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11
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Thermophoretic Micron-Scale Devices: Practical Approach and Review. ENTROPY 2020; 22:e22090950. [PMID: 33286719 PMCID: PMC7597233 DOI: 10.3390/e22090950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the development of micron-scale devices utilizing thermal gradients to manipulate molecules and colloids, and to measure their thermophoretic properties quantitatively. Various devices have been realized, such as on-chip implements, micro-thermogravitational columns and other micron-scale thermophoretic cells. The advantage of the miniaturized devices lies in the reduced sample volume. Often, a direct observation of particles using various microscopic techniques is possible. On the other hand, the small dimensions lead to some technical problems, such as a precise temperature measurement on small length scale with high spatial resolution. In this review, we will focus on the "state of the art" thermophoretic micron-scale devices, covering various aspects such as generating temperature gradients, temperature measurement, and the analysis of the current micron-scale devices. We want to give researchers an orientation for their development of thermophoretic micron-scale devices for biological, chemical, analytical, and medical applications.
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12
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Wei J. Simulation of diffusio-phoretic motion of colloidal particle suppressed by bound solutes within adsorption shell. Mol Phys 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2020.1718226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Wei
- Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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13
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Usuelli M, Cao Y, Bagnani M, Handschin S, Nyström G, Mezzenga R. Probing the Structure of Filamentous Nonergodic Gels by Dynamic Light Scattering. Macromolecules 2020. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Usuelli
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Yiping Cao
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Massimo Bagnani
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Handschin
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Gustav Nyström
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Laboratory for Cellulose & Wood Materials, EMPA, Überlandstrasse 129, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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14
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Wei J, Ramírez-Hinestrosa S, Dobnikar J, Frenkel D. Effect of the interaction strength and anisotropy on the diffusio-phoresis of spherical colloids. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:3621-3627. [PMID: 32101215 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm02053e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Gradients in temperature, concentration or electrostatic potential cannot exert forces on a bulk fluid; they can, however, exert forces on a fluid in a microscopic boundary layer surrounding a (nano)colloidal solute, resulting in so-called phoretic flow. Here we present a simulation study of phoretic flow around a spherical colloid held fixed in a concentration gradient. We show that the resulting flow velocity depends non-monotonically on the strength of the colloid-fluid interaction. The reason for this non-monotonic dependence is that solute particles are effectively trapped in a shell around the colloid and cannot contribute to diffusio-phoresis. We also observe that the flow depends sensitively on the anisotropy of solute-colloid interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiachen Wei
- Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China and Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, CB21EW Cambridge, UK.
| | | | - Jure Dobnikar
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, CB21EW Cambridge, UK. and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China and Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan 523808, China
| | - Daan Frenkel
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, CB21EW Cambridge, UK.
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15
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The molecular lifecycle of amyloid – Mechanism of assembly, mesoscopic organisation, polymorphism, suprastructures, and biological consequences. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2019; 1867:140257. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2019.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Six-fold director field configuration in amyloid nematic and cholesteric phases. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12654. [PMID: 31477753 PMCID: PMC6718687 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48996-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Chiral liquid crystals, or cholesteric phases, have been widely studied in the last decades, leading to fundamental advances and a multitude of applications and technologies. In general, the rich phenomenology of these systems depends directly on the molecular traits and conditions of the system, imposing precise symmetry to the resulting nematic field. By selecting amyloid fibrils as model filamentous chiral colloids, we report an unprecedented breadth of liquid crystalline morphologies, where up to six distinct configurations of the nematic field are observed under identical conditions. Amyloid-rich droplets show homogeneous, bipolar, radial, uniaxial chiral and radial chiral nematic fields, with additional parabolic focal conics in bulk. Variational and scaling theories allow rationalizing the experimental evidence as a subtle interplay between surface and bulk energies. Our experimental and theoretical findings deepen the understanding of chiral liquid crystals under confinement, opening to a more comprehensive exploitation of these systems in related functional materials.
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17
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Facile tuning of the mechanical properties of a biocompatible soft material. Sci Rep 2019; 9:7125. [PMID: 31073158 PMCID: PMC6509115 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43579-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Herein, we introduce a method to locally modify the mechanical properties of a soft, biocompatible material through the exploitation of the effects induced by the presence of a local temperature gradient. In our hypotheses, this induces a concentration gradient in an aqueous sodium alginate solution containing calcium carbonate particles confined within a microfluidic channel. The concentration gradient is then fixed by forming a stable calcium alginate hydrogel. The process responsible for the hydrogel formation is initiated by diffusing an acidic oil solution through a permeable membrane in a 2-layer microfluidic device, thus reducing the pH and freeing calcium ions. We characterize the gradient of mechanical properties using atomic force microscopy nanoindentation measurements for a variety of material compositions and thermal conditions. Significantly, our novel approach enables the creation of steep gradients in mechanical properties (typically between 10–100 kPa/mm) on small scales, which will be of significant use in a range of tissue engineering and cell mechanosensing studies.
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18
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Zhao J, Gulan U, Horie T, Ohmura N, Han J, Yang C, Kong J, Wang S, Xu BB. Advances in Biological Liquid Crystals. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2019; 15:e1900019. [PMID: 30892830 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201900019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2019] [Revised: 02/17/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Biological liquid crystals, a rich set of soft materials with rod-like structures widely existing in nature, possess typical lyotropic liquid crystalline phase properties both in vitro (e.g., cellulose, peptides, and protein assemblies) and in vivo (e.g., cellular lipid membrane, packed DNA in bacteria, and aligned fibroblasts). Given the ability to undergo phase transition in response to various stimuli, numerous practices are exercised to spatially arrange biological liquid crystals. Here, a fundamental understanding of interactions between rod-shaped biological building blocks and their orientational ordering across multiple length scales is addressed. Discussions are made with regard to the dependence of physical properties of nonmotile objects on the first-order phase transition and the coexistence of multi-phases in passive liquid crystalline systems. This work also focuses on how the applied physical stimuli drives the reorganization of constituent passive particles for a new steady-state alignment. A number of recent progresses in the dynamics behaviors of active liquid crystals are presented, and particular attention is given to those self-propelled animate elements, like the formation of motile topological defects, active turbulence, correlation of orientational ordering, and cellular functions. Finally, future implications and potential applications of the biological liquid crystalline materials are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianguo Zhao
- Quanzhou Institute of Equipment Manufacturing, Haixi Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Quanzhou, 362200, China
- Third Institute of Physics-Biophysics, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Utku Gulan
- Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Takafumi Horie
- Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan
| | - Naoto Ohmura
- Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan
| | - Jun Han
- Quanzhou Institute of Equipment Manufacturing, Haixi Institutes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Quanzhou, 362200, China
| | - Chao Yang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Jie Kong
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Science and Technology, School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Steven Wang
- School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - Ben Bin Xu
- Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
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19
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Bagnani M, Nyström G, De Michele C, Mezzenga R. Amyloid Fibrils Length Controls Shape and Structure of Nematic and Cholesteric Tactoids. ACS NANO 2019; 13:591-600. [PMID: 30543398 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b07557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Amyloid fibrils offer the possibility of controlling their contour length, aspect ratio, and length distribution, without affecting other structural parameters. Here we show that a fine control in the contour length distribution of β-lactoglobulin amyloid fibrils, achieved by mechanical shear stresses of different levels, translates into the organization of tactoids of different shapes and morphologies. While longer fibrils lead to highly elongated nematic tactoids in an isotropic continuous matrix, only sufficiently shortened amyloid fibrils lead to cholesteric droplets. The progressive decrease in amyloid fibrils length leads to a linear decrease of the anchoring strength and homogeneous tactoid → bipolar tactoid → cholesteric droplet transitions. Upon fibrils length increase, we first find experimentally and predict theoretically a decrease of the cholesteric pitch, before full disappearance of the cholesteric phase. The latter is understood to arise from the decrease of the energy barrier separating cholesteric and nematic phases over thermal energy for progressively longer, semiflexible fibrils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Bagnani
- Department of Health Science and Technology , ETH Zurich , Schmelzbergstrasse 9, LFO E23 Zurich 8092 , Switzerland
| | - Gustav Nyström
- Department of Health Science and Technology , ETH Zurich , Schmelzbergstrasse 9, LFO E23 Zurich 8092 , Switzerland
| | - Cristiano De Michele
- Dipartimento di Fisica , "Sapienza" Università di Roma , P.le A. Moro 2 , 00185 Roma , Italy
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Science and Technology , ETH Zurich , Schmelzbergstrasse 9, LFO E23 Zurich 8092 , Switzerland
- Department of Materials , ETH Zurich , Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10 , Zurich 8093 , Switzerland
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20
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Nyström G, Mezzenga R. Liquid crystalline filamentous biological colloids: Analogies and differences. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cocis.2018.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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21
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Liu S, Zheng C, Ye Z, Blanc B, Zhi X, Shi L, Zhang Z. Filamentous Viruses Grafted with Thermoresponsive Block Polymers: Liquid Crystal Behaviors of a Rodlike Colloidal Model with “True” Attractive Interactions. Macromolecules 2018. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Shuaiyu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
| | - Chunxiong Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
| | - Zihan Ye
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
| | - Baptiste Blanc
- Department of Physics, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453, United States
| | - Xueli Zhi
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
| | - Linqi Shi
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
| | - Zhenkun Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, Institute of Polymer Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, China
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22
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Cao Y, Bolisetty S, Adamcik J, Mezzenga R. Elasticity in Physically Cross-Linked Amyloid Fibril Networks. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2018; 120:158103. [PMID: 29756901 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.120.158103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
We provide a constitutive model of semiflexible and rigid amyloid fibril networks by combining the affine thermal model of network elasticity with the Derjaguin-Landau-Vervey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory of electrostatically charged colloids. When compared to rheological experiments on β-lactoglobulin and lysozyme amyloid networks, this approach provides the correct scaling of elasticity versus both concentration (G∼c^{2.2} and G∼c^{2.5} for semiflexible and rigid fibrils, respectively) and ionic strength (G∼I^{4.4} and G∼I^{3.8} for β-lactoglobulin and lysozyme, independent from fibril flexibility). The pivotal role played by the screening salt is to reduce the electrostatic barrier among amyloid fibrils, converting labile physical entanglements into long-lived cross-links. This gives a power-law behavior of G with I having exponents significantly larger than in other semiflexible polymer networks (e.g., actin) and carrying DLVO traits specific to the individual amyloid fibrils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiping Cao
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zurich 8092, Switzerland
| | - Sreenath Bolisetty
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zurich 8092, Switzerland
| | - Jozef Adamcik
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zurich 8092, Switzerland
| | - Raffaele Mezzenga
- Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, Zurich 8092, Switzerland
- Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, Zurich 8093, Switzerland
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