scholarly journals Synthesis of cell-laden alginate microgels with tunable compositions based on microfluidic pico-injection technique

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhe Zhang ◽  
Angelo Mao ◽  
David J Mooney ◽  
David A Weitz

We report a microfluidic pico-injection-based approach for reliably generating monodisperse cell-laden alginate microgels whose composition can be tuned in situ through modulation of the cross-linker concentration. Separating the gelation from emulsification allows for a better control over the microgel size with a microfluidic drop-maker, and an instant adjustment of the microgel composition with a pico-injector.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamshid Kadirkhanov ◽  
Cheng-Lin Yang ◽  
Zi-Xuan Chang ◽  
Ren-Man Zhu ◽  
Cai-Yuan Pan ◽  
...  

Compared with the post-polymerization cross-linking strategy, in situ cross-linking by divinyl comonomers in polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) is a more straightforward and convenient approach to produce structurally stabilized nano-objects. However, cross-linking...


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3637
Author(s):  
Yong Wang ◽  
Austin Green ◽  
Xiaomei Yao ◽  
Hang Liu ◽  
Saleha Nisar ◽  
...  

Improving the longevity of composite restorations has proven to be difficult when they are bonded to dentin. Dentin demineralization leaves collagen fibrils susceptible to enzymatic digestion, which causes breakdown of the resin–dentin interface. Therefore, measures for counteracting the enzymatic environment by enhancing dentin collagen’s resistance to degradation have the potential to improve the durability of dental composite restorations. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of polyphenol-rich extracts and a chemical cross-linker on the cross-linking interaction, resistance to digestion, and endogenous matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities of dentin collagen under clinically relevant conditions. Ten-µm-thick films were cut from dentin slabs of non-carious extracted human third molars. Following demineralization, polyphenol-rich extracts—including grape seed (GSE), green tea (GTE), and cranberry juice (CJE)—or chemical cross-linker carbodiimide with n-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) were applied to the demineralized dentin surfaces for 30 s. The collagen cross-linking, bio-stabilization, and gelatinolytic activities of MMPs 2 and 9 were studied by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, weight loss, hydroxyproline release, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and in situ zymography. All treatments significantly increased resistance to collagenase degradation and reduced the gelatinolytic MMP activity of dentin collagen compared to the untreated control. The CJE- and GSE-treated groups were more resistant to digestion than the GTE- or EDC/NHS-treated ones (p < 0.05), which was consistent with the cross-linking interaction found with FTIR and the in situ performance on the acid-etched dentin surface found with SEM/TEM. The collagen films treated with CJE showed the lowest MMP activity, followed by GSE, GTE, and, finally, EDC/NHS. The CJE-treated dentin collagen rapidly increased its resistance to digestion and MMP inhibition. An application of CJE as short as 30 s may be a clinically feasible approach to improving the longevity of dentin bonding in composite restorations.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 478
Author(s):  
Gjylije Hoti ◽  
Fabrizio Caldera ◽  
Claudio Cecone ◽  
Alberto Rubin Pedrazzo ◽  
Anastasia Anceschi ◽  
...  

The cross-linking density influences the physicochemical properties of cyclodextrin-based nanosponges (CD-NSs). Although the effect of the cross-linker type and content on the NSs performance has been investigated, a detailed study of the cross-linking density has never been performed. In this contribution, nine ester-bridged NSs based on β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and different quantities of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), used as a cross-linking agent in stoichiometric proportions of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 moles of PMDA for each mole of CD, were synthesized and characterized in terms of swelling and rheological properties. The results, from the swelling experiments, exploiting Flory–Rehner theory, and rheology, strongly showed a cross-linker content-dependent behavior. The study of cross-linking density allowed to shed light on the efficiency of the synthesis reaction methods. Overall, our study demonstrates that by varying the amount of cross-linking agent, the cross-linked structure of the NSs matrix can be controlled effectively. As PMDA βCD-NSs have emerged over the years as a highly versatile class of materials with potential applications in various fields, this study represents the first step towards a full understanding of the correlation between their structure and properties, which is a key requirement to effectively tune their synthesis reaction in view of any specific future application or industrial scale-up.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4390
Author(s):  
Sevil Savaskan Yilmaz ◽  
Nuri Yildirim ◽  
Murat Misir ◽  
Yasin Misirlioglu ◽  
Emre Celik

Poly(acrylic acid/Kryptofix 23-Dimethacrylate) superabsorbent polymer [P (AA/Kry23-DM) SAP] was synthesized by solution polymerization to remove Co, Ni, Cu, Cd, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, and Fe ions in water and improve the quality of the water. Kry23-DM cross-linker (1,4,7,13,16-Pentaoxa-10,19 diazo cyclohexene icosane di methacrylate) was synthesized using Kry23 and methacryloyl chloride. The characterization of the molecules was done by FTIR, TGA, DSC, and SEM techniques. The effects of parameters such as pH, concentration, and the metal ion interaction on the heavy metal ions uptaking of SAP was investigated. It was observed that P (AA/Kry23-DM) SAP has maximum water absorption, and the absorption increases with the pH increase. Adsorption rates and sorption capacity, desorption ratios, competitive sorption (qcs), and distribution coefficient (log D) of P(AA/Kry23-DM) SAP were studied as a function of time and pH with the heavy metal ion concentration. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms of the P (AA/Kry23-DM) SAP were investigated to verify the metal uptake. Molecular mechanic (MM2), Assisted Model Building with Energy Refinement (AMBER), and optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS) methods. were used in quantum chemical calculations for the conformational analysis of the cross-linker and the SAP. ΔH0f calculations of the cross-linker and the superabsorbent were made using Austin Model 1(AM1) method.


1982 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Hirokawa

The elaborate cross-connections among membranous organelles (MO), microtubules (MT), and neurofilaments (NF) were demonstrated in unifixed axons by the quick-freeze, deep-etch, and rotary-shadowing method. They were categorized into three groups: NF-associated cross-linker, MT-associated cross-bridges, and long cross-links in the subaxolemmal space. Other methods were also employed to make sure that the observed cross-connections in the unfixed axons were not a result of artifactual condensation or precipitation of soluble components or salt during deep-etching. Axolemma were permeablized either chemically (0.1% saponin) or physically (gentle homogenization), to allow egress of their soluble components from the axon; or else the axons were washed with distilled water after fixation. After physical rupture of the axolemma or saponin treatment, most of the MO remained intact. MT were stabilized by adding taxol in the incubation medium. Axons prepared by these methods contained many longitudinally oriented NF connected to each other by numerous fine cross-linkers (4-6 nm in diameter, 20-50 nm in length). Two specialized regions were apparent within the axons: one composed of fascicles of MT linked with each other by fine cross-bridges; the other was in the subaxolemmal space and consisted of actinlike filaments and a network of long cross-links (50-150 nm) which connected axolemma and actinlike filaments with NF and MT. F-actin was localized to the subaxolemmal space by the nitrobenzooxadiazol phallacidin method. MO were located mainly in these two specialized regions and were intimately associated with MT via fine short (10-20 nm in length) cross-bridges. Cross-links from NF to MO and MT were also common. All these cross-connections were observed after chemical extraction or physical rupture of the axon; however, these procedures removed granular materials which were attached to the filaments in the fresh unextracted axons. The cross-connections were also found in the axons washed with distilled water after fixation. I conclude that the cross- connections are real structures while the granular material is composed of soluble material, probably protein in nature.


1984 ◽  
Vol 224 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019-1022
Author(s):  
E Kotthaus ◽  
W H Strätling

We have studied the HClO4-solubility of histones H1 and H5 in hen erythrocyte nuclei after treatment with the cross-linker dimethyl 3,3′-dithiobispropionimidate (DTPI). The amount of acid-soluble, non-cross-linked, H1 and H5 histones was drastically decreased, and that of acid-soluble H1/H5 histone dimers went through an optimum as the DTPI concentration was raised. Incubation of the HClO4-insoluble fraction with 2-mercaptoethanol regenerated the acid-solubility of H1/H5 histones in this fraction. When purified H1/H5 histones were treated with increasing concentrations of DTPI under non-cross-linking conditions, the amount of HClO4-soluble histones also greatly decreased, but to a much lesser extent if the DTPI treatment was followed by reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol. This decrease was inversely correlated to the proportion of amino groups modified. It is concluded that, when the cross-linker was used in large excess, the cross-linking reaction competed with a one-end reaction modifying the histones at lysine amino groups by cross-linker molecules, of which the imidoester groups that had not reacted were hydrolysed. It is suggested that this modification produced the changes in acid-solubility.


2019 ◽  
Vol 249 ◽  
pp. 165-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Araújo ◽  
Nele De Belie ◽  
Sandra Van Vlierberghe
Keyword(s):  

2013 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 835-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhito Koyama ◽  
Takahiro Yoshii ◽  
Yasuhiro Kohsaka ◽  
Toshikazu Takata

A new concept for photodegradable cross-linked polymers utilizing characteristics of rotaxane cross-links and aromatic disulfides is proposed. The cross-linked polymer is obtained by the radical polymerization of a vinyl monomer in the presence of a [3]rotaxane-type cross-linker having two radically polymerizable groups. The [3]rotaxane-type cross-linker was prepared in 93 % yield by the typical rotaxane-forming reaction using a dumbbell-shaped aromatic disulfide possessing a bis(ammonium salt) moiety and a crown ether wheel tethered by a hydroxymethyl group (96 %) and the subsequent vinyl group-endowment (80 %). The radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in the presence of the cross-linker (0.1 mol %) at 60 °C afforded solvent-insoluble polymer in 90 % yield. When the polymer was swollen to a gel in dimethylformamide (DMF) and a small part of the gel was UV-irradiated, the gel was promptly solubilized, probably via the photochemical scission of the S–S linkage of the interlocked aromatic disulfide, causing the efficient decomposition of the rotaxane cross-links. The recovered poly(methyl methacrylate) bearing a small amount of crown ether moiety has a molecular weight of Mn 170 kg/mol (Mw/Mn 2.1) that indicated the occurrence of the site-selective photodegradation.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1085
Author(s):  
Alina Amirova ◽  
Tatyana Kirila ◽  
Mikhail Kurlykin ◽  
Andrey Tenkovtsev ◽  
Alexander Filippov

Cross-linked derivatives of acylated branched polyethyleneimine containing 2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline units were investigated in chloroform and aqueous solutions using methods of molecular hydrodynamics, static and dynamic light scattering, and turbidity. The studied samples differed by the cross-linker content. The solubility of the polyethyleneimines studied worsened with the increasing mole fraction of the cross-linker. Cross-linked polyethyleneimines were characterized by small dimensions in comparison with linear analogs; the increase in the cross-linker content leads to a growth of intramolecular density. At low temperatures, the aqueous solutions of investigated samples were molecularly dispersed, and the large aggregates were formed due to the dehydration of oxazoline units and the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds. For the cross-linked polyethyleneimines, the phase separation temperatures were lower than that for linear and star-shaped poly-2-isopropyl-2-oxazolines. The low critical solution temperature of the solutions of studied polymers decreased with the increasing cross-linker mole fraction. The time of establishment of the constant characteristics of the studied solutions after the jump-like change in temperature reaches 3000 s, which is at least two times longer than for linear polymers.


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