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Lavickova B, Grasemann L, Maerkl SJ. Improved Cell-Free Transcription-Translation Reactions in Microfluidic Chemostats Augmented with Hydrogel Membranes for Continuous Small Molecule Dialysis. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:4134-4141. [PMID: 36475685 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Increasing the protein production capacity of the PURE cell-free transcription-translation (TX-TL) system will be key to implementing complex synthetic biological circuits, and to establishing a fully self-regenerating system as a basis for the development of a synthetic cell. Under steady-state conditions, the protein synthesis capacity of the PURE system is likely at least one order of magnitude too low to express sufficient quantities of all PURE protein components. This is in part due to the fact that protein synthesis cannot be sustained during the entire dilution cycle, especially at low dilution rates. We developed a microfluidic chemostat augmented with semipermeable membranes that combines steady-state reactions and continuous dialysis as a possible solution to enhance protein synthesis at steady-state. In batch operation, the continuous dialysis of low molecular weight components via the membranes extended protein synthesis by over an order of magnitude from 2 h to over 30 h, leading to a 7-fold increase in protein yield. In chemostat operation, continuous dialysis enabled sustained protein synthesis during the entire dilution cycle even for low dilution rates, leading to 6-fold higher protein levels at steady state. The possibility to combine and independently manipulate continuous dialysis and chemostat operation renders our dialysis chemostat a promising technological basis for complex cell-free synthetic biology applications that require enhanced protein synthesis capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbora Lavickova
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Laura Grasemann
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian J Maerkl
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
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Li M, Joung D, Hwang DK. Macroporous-Enabled Highly Deformable Layered Hydrogels with Designed pH Response. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2018; 34:6856-6860. [PMID: 29792803 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b00653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Environment-responsive hydrogel structures are of great interest in materials research and have a wide range of applications. By using a flow lithography technique, we report a one-step and high-throughput fabrication method for the synthesis of highly pH-responsive hydrogels with designed shape transformations. In this method, heterogeneous hydrogels with porous and nonporous layers are synthesized using a single UV exposure in a microfluidic channel. During the UV polymerization, the porous layers, which are formed by using polymerization-induced phase separation (PIPS), significantly increase the swelling capability and enhance the swelling rate of the hydrogels. Because the flow-lithography approach allows various patterns of porous/nonporous layers with great control and enables the simple integration of PIPS, resultant layered hydrogels show extraordinary deformations with desired pH response. More importantly, our fabrication approach can not only make 2D deformation of hydrogel structures such as bending but also can achieve 3D structural deformation such as helical and buckling structures, enabled by nonuniform UV polymerization we developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minggan Li
- Department of Chemical Engineering , Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 2K3 , Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science , St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST), Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
| | - Dehi Joung
- Department of Chemical Engineering , Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 2K3 , Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science , St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST), Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
| | - Dae Kun Hwang
- Department of Chemical Engineering , Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 2K3 , Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science , St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST), Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street , Toronto , Ontario M5B 1W8 , Canada
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Lu W, Yuan Z, Zhao Y, Zhang H, Zhang H, Li X. Porous membranes in secondary battery technologies. Chem Soc Rev 2018; 46:2199-2236. [PMID: 28288217 DOI: 10.1039/c6cs00823b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 162] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Secondary batteries have received huge attention due to their attractive features in applications of large-scale energy storage and portable electronic devices, as well as electrical vehicles. In a secondary battery, a membrane plays the role of separating the anode and cathode to prevent the occurrence of a short circuit, while allowing the transport of charge carriers to achieve a complete circuit. The properties of a membrane will largely determine the performance of a battery. In this article, we review the research and development progress of porous membranes in secondary battery technologies, such as lithium-based batteries together with flow batteries. The preparation methods as well as the required properties of porous membranes in different secondary battery technologies will be elucidated thoroughly and deeply. Most importantly, this review will mainly focus on the optimization and modification of porous membranes in different secondary battery systems. And various modifications on commercial porous membranes along with novel membrane materials are widely discussed and summarized. This review will help to optimize the membrane material for different secondary batteries, and favor the understanding of the preparation-structure-performance relationship of porous membranes in different secondary batteries. Therefore, this review will provide an extensive, comprehensive and professional reference to design and construct high-performance porous membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Lu
- Division of Energy Storage, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, P. R. China.
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Li M, Joung D, Kozinski JA, Hwang DK. Fabrication of Highly Porous Nonspherical Particles Using Stop-Flow Lithography and the Study of Their Optical Properties. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2017; 33:184-190. [PMID: 27933811 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
A microfluidic flow lithography approach was investigated to synthesize highly porous nonspherical particles and Janus particles in a one-step and high-throughput fashion. In this study, using common solvents as porogens, we were able to synthesize highly porous particles with different shapes using ultraviolet (UV) polymerization-induced phase separation in a microfluidic channel. We also studied the pore-forming process using operating parameters such as porogen type, porogen concentration, and UV intensity to tune the pore size and increase the pore size to submicron levels. By simply coflowing multiple streams in the microfluidic channel, we were able to create porous Janus particles; we showed that their anisotropic swelling/deswelling exhibit a unique optical shifting. The distinctive optical properties and the enlarged surface area of the highly porous particles can improve their performance in various applications such as optical sensors and drug loading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minggan Li
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST) , A partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
| | - Dehi Joung
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST) , A partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
| | - Janusz A Kozinski
- Lassonde School of Engineering, York University , 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Dae Kun Hwang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University , 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canada
- Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital , 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST) , A partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael's Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada
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