New molecular printing technology could recreate complex chemical environments that resemble the human body

New patterning technology which could open opportunities to recreate complex biological environments has been developed by researchers. 3DEAL' is a simple and inexpensive fabrication technique able to generate complex molecular patterns within soft matter, such as hydrogels, with microscale resolution and up to centimetres in depth. This capacity enables the possibility to engineer 3-D hydrogel environments with spatial control of the chemical composition, opening the opportunity to recreate biological scenarios such as 3-D molecular gradients or patterns. This could be used to design new drug screening platforms or build complex tissue engineered constructs. "The human body is largely made up of anisotropic, hierarchical, and mostly three dimensional structures. New ways to fabricate environments that can recreate physical and chemical features of such structures would have important implications in the way more efficient drugs are developed or more functional tissue and organ constructs can be engineered." The key design feature of 3DEAL is the use of an electrical field and a porous mask, which can be used to move and specifically localize multiple types of molecules within hydrogels with microscale resolution and within large volumes. "A major advantage of the technique is its robustness and cost-effectiveness. It is simple and can be used with different types of readily available hydrogels and be patterned with different types of molecules." The researchers hope to create variations of the technique to enable even more complex patterning as well as focus on specific applications in tissue engineering and relevant in vitro models for biological studies.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fingerprints glow for months with this new chemical

Image
A new chemical agent reveals hidden fingerprints with a fluorescent glow that lasts for months, a new study published in Analytical Chemistry concludes. The new substance may help forensic investigators identify prints on plastic and metal surfaces, which glow naturally under ultraviolet light and can obscure fingerprints, Chemical & Engineering News reports. What’s more, the new material makes crisper images of fingerprints than traditional fingerprinting powders. That makes the advance valuable for medical diagnostics, the researchers say, because clean resolution of fingerprint furrows and ridges can provide information about a patient’s metabolism.
Read more

The Chemical Reactions That Make Food Taste Awesome

Image
Have you ever wondered how freshly baked bread gets its golden brown crust and why it smells so good? Or how nondescript green berries turn into beautiful brown coffee beans with a rich alluring aroma? The answers to these questions lie in a series of complex of chemical reactions, known as Maillard reactions, which give many foods their familiar flavors and colors. These sensory properties even guide us in how we choose foods and help create our initial perceptions of their quality. Tastes So Good As the name suggests, Maillard reactions were first described by a French physician and biochemist, Louis-Camille Maillard, in 1912. These reactions produce hundreds of chemical compounds that give color and aroma to some of our favorite foods such as roast meat, potato chips, bread and other bakery products, coffee, chocolate and confectionery. Maillard reactions occur between amine groups of amino acids or proteins and “reducing” sugars, such as glucose and fructose. These sugars are s...
Read more

Exploring the Tumor Microenvironment

Image
The immune system is the body’s first line of defense when it comes to fighting cancerous cells. It can identify and attack the smallest of threats before they become a danger, and distinguish tumor cells from the body’s normal cells, protecting our essential systems. But the immune system isn’t always successful. Tumor cells have mechanisms to evade or suppress immune response, allowing them to masquerade as normal cells and grow without restraint. “Cancer cells can mutate in ways that make them undetectable to the immune cells. In other cases, a dysregulation in the body can lead to key signals being shut down so the immune system doesn’t respond as it should,” says David Feltquate, head of oncology early clinical development at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Every tumor is unique: some respond well to chemotherapy, targeted or immunotherapy treatments, while others become resistant after an initial response or don’t respond at all. Researchers are looking at the tumor microenvironment to ...
Read more