TY - JOUR A1 - Xu, Xun A1 - Nie, Yan A1 - Wang, Weiwei A1 - Ma, Nan A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Periodic thermomechanical modulation of toll-like receptor expression and distribution in mesenchymal stromal cells JF - MRS communications / a publication of the Materials Research Society N2 - Toll-like receptor (TLR) can trigger an immune response against virus including SARS-CoV-2. TLR expression/distribution is varying in mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) depending on their culture environments. Here, to explore the effect of periodic thermomechanical cues on TLRs, thermally controlled shape-memory polymer sheets with programmable actuation capacity were created. The proportion of MSCs expressing SARS-CoV-2-associated TLRs was increased upon stimulation. The TLR4/7 colocalization was promoted and retained in the endoplasmic reticula. The TLR redistribution was driven by myosin-mediated F-actin assembly. These results highlight the potential of boosting the immunity for combating COVID-19 via thermomechanical preconditioning of MSCs. KW - Actuation KW - Antiviral KW - Biomaterial KW - COVID-19 KW - Shape memory Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-021-00049-5 SN - 2159-6859 SN - 2159-6867 VL - 11 IS - 4 SP - 425 EP - 431 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger-Genge, A. A1 - Braune, S. A1 - Walter, M. A1 - Krengel, M. A1 - Kratz, K. A1 - Küpper, J. H. A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Jung, Friedrich T1 - Influence of different surface treatments of poly(n-butyl acrylate) networks on fibroblasts adhesion, morphology and viability JF - Clinical hemorheology and microcirculation : blood flow and vessels N2 - BACKGROUND: Physical and chemical characteristics of implant materials determine the fate of long-term cardiovascular devices. However, there is still a lack of fundamental understanding of the molecular mechanisms occurring in the material-tissue interphase. In a previous study, soft covalently crosslinked poly(n-butyl acrylate) networks (cPnBA) were introduced as sterilizable, non-toxic and immuno-compatible biomaterials with mechanical properties adjustable to blood vessels. Here we study the influence of different surface treatments in particular oxygen plasma modification and fibrinogen deposition as well as a combinatorial approach on the adhesion and viability of fibroblasts. RESULTS: Compared to non-treated cPnBAs the advancing water-contact angles were found to be reduced after all surface modifications (p<0.05, each), while lowest values were observed after the combined surface treatment (OPT+FIB). The latter differed significantly from the single OPT and FIB. The number of adherent fibroblasts and their adherence behavior differed on both pristine cPnBA networks. The fibroblast density on cPnBA04 was 743 +/- 434 cells. mm(-2), was about 6.5 times higher than on cPnBA73 with 115 +/- 73 cells. mm(-2). On cPnBA04 about 20% of the cells were visible as very small, round and buckled cells while all other cells were in a migrating status. On cPnBA73, nearly 50% of fibroblasts were visible as very small, round and buckled cells. The surface functionalization either using oxygen plasma treatment or fibrinogen coating led to a significant increase of adherent fibroblasts, particularly the combination of both techniques, for both cPnBA networks. It is noteworthy to mention that the fibrinogen coating overruled the characteristics of the pristine surfaces; here, the fibroblast densities after seeding were identical for both cPnBAnetworks. Thus, the binding rather depended on the fibrinogen coating than on the substrate characteristics anymore. While the integrity of the fibroblasts membrane was comparable for both polymers, the MTS tests showed a decreased metabolic activity of the fibroblasts on cPnBA. CONCLUSION: The applied surface treatments of cPnBA successfully improved the adhesion of viable fibroblasts. Under resting conditions as well as after shearing the highest fibroblast densities were found on surfaces with combined post-treatment. KW - Biomaterial KW - poly(n-butyl acrylate) KW - fibroblast KW - oxygen plasma KW - fibrinogen KW - cell adhesion KW - focal adhesion KW - actin cytoskeleton KW - viability Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3233/CH-189130 SN - 1386-0291 SN - 1875-8622 VL - 69 IS - 1-2 SP - 305 EP - 316 PB - IOS Press CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Braune, Steffen A1 - Froehlich, G. M. A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Jung, Friedrich T1 - Effect of temperature on platelet adherence JF - Clinical hemorheology and microcirculation : blood flow and vessels N2 - BACKGROUND: Thrombogenicity is one of the main parameters tested in vitro to evaluate the hemocompatibility of artificial surfaces. While the influence of the temperature on platelet aggregation has been addressed by several studies, the temperature influence on the adherence of platelets to body foreign surfaces as an important aspect of biomedical device handling has not yet been explored. Therefore, we analyzed the influence of two typically applied incubation-temperatures (22 degrees C and 37 degrees C) on the adhesion of platelets to biomaterials. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thrombogenicity of three different polymers - medical grade poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - were studied in an in vitro static test. Platelet adhesion was studied with stringently characterized blood from apparently healthy subjects. Collection of whole blood and preparation of platelet rich plasma (PRP) was carried out at room temperature (22 degrees C). PRP was incubated with the polymers either at 22 degrees C or 37 degrees C. Surface adherent platelets were fixed, fluorescently labelled and assessed by an image-based approach. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Differences in the density of adherent platelets after incubation at 22 degrees C and 37 degrees C occurred on PDMS and PET. Similar levels of adherent platelets were observed on the very thrombogenic PTFE. The covered surface areas per single platelet were analyzed to measure the state of platelet activation and revealed no differences between the two incubation temperatures for any of the analyzed polymers. Irrespective of the observed differences between the low and medium thrombogenic PDMS and PET and the higher variability at 22 degrees C, the thrombogenicity of the three investigated polymers was evaluated being comparable at both incubation temperatures. KW - Biomaterial KW - thrombogenicity KW - platelet adhesion KW - platelet activation KW - temperature Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3233/CH-152028 SN - 1386-0291 SN - 1875-8622 VL - 61 SP - 681 EP - 688 PB - IOS Press CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Piluso, Susanna A1 - Hiebl, Bernhard A1 - Gorb, Stanislav N. A1 - Kovalev, Alexander A1 - Lendlein, Andreas A1 - Neffe, Axel T. T1 - Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels crosslinked by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition with tailorable mechanical properties JF - The international journal of artificial organs N2 - Biopolymers of the extracellular matrix are attractive starting materials for providing degradable and biocompatible biomaterials. In this study, hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties were prepared by the use of copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (known as "click chemistry"). Alkyne-functionalized hyaluronic acid was crosslinked with linkers having two terminal azide functionalities, varying crosslinker density as well as the lengths and rigidity of the linker molecules. By variation of the crosslinker density and crosslinker type, hydrogels with elastic moduli in the range of 0.5-4 kPa were prepared. The washed materials contained a maximum of 6.8 mg copper per kg dry weight and the eluate of the gel crosslinked with diazidostilbene did not show toxic effects on L929 cells. The hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels have potential as biomaterials for cell culture or soft tissue regeneration applications. KW - Biomaterial KW - Hydrogel KW - Hyaluronic acid KW - Microindentation KW - Rheology Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5301/IJAO.2011.6394 SN - 0391-3988 VL - 34 IS - 2 SP - 192 EP - 197 PB - Wichtig CY - Milano ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reiche, Jürgen A1 - Kratz, Karl A1 - Hofmann, Dieter A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Current status of Langmuir monolayer degradation of polymeric biomaterials JF - The international journal of artificial organs N2 - Langmuir monolayer degradation (LMD) experiments with polymers possessing outstanding biomedical application potential yield information regarding the kinetics of their hydrolytic or enzymatic chain scission under well-defined and adjustable degradation conditions. A brief review is given of LMD investigations, including the author's own work on 2-dimensional (2D) polymer systems, providing chain scission data, which are not disturbed by simultaneously occurring transport phenomena, such as water penetration into the sample or transport of scission fragments out of the sample. A knowledge-based approach for the description and simulation of polymer hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation based on a combination of fast LMD experiments and computer simulation of the water penetration is briefly introduced. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed. KW - Monolayer KW - Hydrolytic degradation KW - Enzymatic degradation KW - Biomaterial KW - Degradable polymer Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5301/IJAO.2011.6401 SN - 0391-3988 VL - 34 IS - 2 SP - 123 EP - 128 PB - Wichtig CY - Milano ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neffe, Axel T. A1 - Loebus, Axel A1 - Zaupa, Alessandro A1 - Stötzel, Christian A1 - Müller, Frank A. A1 - Lendlein, Andreas T1 - Gelatin functionalization with tyrosine derived moieties to increase the interaction with hydroxyapatite fillers JF - Acta biomaterialia N2 - Combining gelatins functionalized with the tyrosine-derived groups desaminotyrosine or desaminotyrosyl tyrosine with hydroxyapatite (HAp) led to the formation of composite materials with much lower swelling ratios than those of the pure matrices. Shifts of the infra-red (IR) bands related to the free carboxyl groups could be observed in the presence of HAp, which suggested a direct interaction of matrix and filler that formed additional physical cross-links in the material. In tensile tests and rheological measurements the composites equilibrated in water had increased Young's moduli (from 200 kPa up to 2 MPa) and tensile strengths (from 57 kPa up to 1.1 MPa) compared with the matrix polymers without affecting the elongation at break. Furthermore, an increased thermal stability of the networks from 40 to 85 degrees C could be demonstrated. The differences in the behaviour of the functionalized gelatins compared with pure gelatin as a matrix suggested an additional stabilizing bond between the incorporated aromatic groups and the HAp as supported by the IR results. The composites can potentially be applied as bone fillers. KW - Gelatin KW - Hydroxyapatite KW - Composite KW - Hydrogel KW - Biomaterial Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2010.11.025 SN - 1742-7061 VL - 7 IS - 4 SP - 1693 EP - 1701 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER -