Browsing by Author "Pearson, Samuel"
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- ItemA bio-based route to the carbon-5 chemical glutaric acid and to bionylon-6,5 using metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum(Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2018) Rohles, Christina Maria; Gläser, Lars; Kohlstedt, Michael; Gießelmann, Gideon; Pearson, Samuel; del Campo, Aránzazu; Becker, Judith; Wittmann, ChristophIn the present work, we established the bio-based production of glutarate, a carbon-5 dicarboxylic acid with recognized value for commercial plastics and other applications, using metabolically engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum. The mutant C. glutamicum AVA-2 served as a starting point for strain development, because it secreted small amounts of glutarate as a consequence of its engineered 5-aminovalerate pathway. Starting from AVA-2, we overexpressed 5-aminovalerate transaminase (gabT) and glutarate semialdehyde dehydrogenase (gabD) under the control of the constitutive tuf promoter to convert 5-aminovalerate further to glutarate. The created strain GTA-1 formed glutarate as a major product, but still secreted 5-aminovalerate as well. This bottleneck was tackled at the level of 5-aminovalerate re-import. The advanced strain GTA-4 overexpressed the newly discovered 5-aminovalerate importer NCgl0464 and formed glutarate from glucose in a yield of 0.27 mol mol−1. In a fed-batch process, GTA-4 produced more than 90 g L−1 glutarate from glucose and molasses based sugars in a yield of up to 0.70 mol mol−1 and a maximum productivity of 1.8 g L−1 h−1, while 5-aminovalerate was no longer secreted. The bio-based glutaric acid was purified to >99.9% purity. Interfacial polymerization and melt polymerization with hexamethylenediamine yielded bionylon-6,5, a polyamide with a unique structure.
- ItemElastomeric Optical Waveguides by Extrusion Printing(Weinheim : Wiley, 2022) Feng, Jun; Zheng, Yijun; Jiang, Qiyang; Włodarczyk‐Biegun, Małgorzata K.; Pearson, Samuel; del Campo, AránzazuAdvances in optogenetics and the increasing use of implantable devices for therapies and health monitoring are driving demand for compliant, biocompatible optical waveguides and scalable methods for their manufacture. Molding, thermal drawing, and dip-coating are the most prevalent approaches in recent literature. Here the authors demonstrate that extrusion printing at room temperature can be used for continuous fabrication of compliant optical waveguides with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) core and crosslinked Pluronic F127-diacrylate (Pluronic-DA) cladding. The optical fibers are printed from fluid precursor inks and stabilized by physical interactions and photoinitiated crosslinking in the Pluronic-DA. The printed fibers show optical loss values of 0.13–0.34 dB cm–1 in air and tissue within the wavelength range of 405–520 nm. The fibers have a Young's Modulus (Pluronic cladding) of 150 kPa and can be stretched to more than 5 times their length. The optical loss of the fibers shows little variation with extension. This work demonstrates how printing can simplify the fabrication of compliant and stretchable devices from materials approved for clinical use. These can be of interest for optogenetic or photopharmacology applications in extensible tissues, like muscles or heart.
- ItemGelation kinetics of thiol-methylsulfone (MS) hydrogel formulations for 3D cell culture(Washington, D.C. : American Chemical Society, 2022) de Miguel-Jiménez, Adrián; Ebeling, Bastian; Paez, Julieta I.; Fink-Straube, Claudia; Pearson, Samuel; del Campo, AranzazuCrosslinking chemistries that allow hydrogel formation within minutes are essential to achieve homogeneous networks and cell distributions in 3D cell culture. Thiol-methylsulfone (MS) crosslinking chemistry offers minutes-scale gelation under near-physiological conditions showing many desirable attributes for 3D cell encapsulation. Here we investigate the gelation kinetics and mechanical properties of PEG-based hydrogels formed by thiol-tetrazole methylsulfone (TzMS) crosslinking as a function of buffer, crosslinker structure, and degree of TzMS functionalization. Appropriate buffer selection ensured constant pH throughout crosslinking. The formulation containing cell adhesive ligand RGD and enzymatically-degradable peptide VPM gelled in ca. 4 min at pH 7.5, and stiffness could be increased from hundreds of Pascals to > 1 kPa by using excess VPM. The gelation times and stiffnesses for these hydrogels are highly suitable for 3D cell encapsulations, and pave the way for reliable 3D cell culture workflows in pipetting robots.
- ItemLighting the Path: Light Delivery Strategies to Activate Photoresponsive Biomaterials In Vivo(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Pearson, Samuel; Feng, Jun; del Campo, AránzazuPhotoresponsive biomaterials are experiencing a transition from in vitro models to in vivo demonstrations that point toward clinical translation. Dynamic hydrogels for cell encapsulation, light-responsive carriers for controlled drug delivery, and nanomaterials containing photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy are relevant examples. Nonetheless, the step to the clinic largely depends on their combination with technologies to bring light into the body. This review highlights the challenge of photoactivation in vivo, and presents strategies for light management that can be adopted for this purpose. The authors’ focus is on technologies that are materials-driven, particularly upconversion nanoparticles that assist in “direct path” light delivery through tissue, and optical waveguides that “clear the path” between external light source and in vivo target. The authors’ intention is to assist the photoresponsive biomaterials community transition toward medical technologies by presenting light delivery concepts that can be integrated with the photoresponsive targets. The authors also aim to stimulate further innovation in materials-based light delivery platforms by highlighting needs and opportunities for in vivo photoactivation of biomaterials. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
- ItemPrinted Degradable Optical Waveguides for Guiding Light into Tissue(Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2020) Feng, Jun; Zheng, Yijun; Bhusari, Shardul; Villiou, Maria; Pearson, Samuel; del Campo, AránzazuOptogenetics and photonic technologies are changing the future of medicine. To implement light‐based therapies in the clinic, patient‐friendly devices that can deliver light inside the body while offering tunable properties and compatibility with soft tissues are needed. Here extrusion printing of degradable, hydrogel‐based optical waveguides with optical losses as low as 0.1 dB cm−1 at visible wavelengths is described. Core‐only and core‐cladding fibers are printed at room temperature from polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐based and PEG/Pluronic precursors, and cured by in situ photopolymerization. The obtained waveguides are flexible, with mechanical properties tunable within a tissue‐compatible range. Degradation times are also tunable by adjusting the molar mass of the diacrylate gel precursors, which are synthesized by linking PEG diacrylate (PEGDA) with varying proportions of DL‐dithiothreitol (DTT). The printed waveguides are used to activate photochemical and optogenetic processes in close‐to‐physiological environments. Light‐triggered migration of cells in a photoresponsive 3D hydrogel and drug release from an optogenetically‐engineered living material by delivering light across >5 cm of muscle tissue are demonstrated. These results quantify the in vitro performance, and reflect the potential of the printed degradable fibers for in vivo and clinical applications.