A bionic controllable strain membrane for cell stretching at air–liquid interface inspired by papercutting

Abstract

Lung diseases associated with alveoli, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, have posed a long-term threat to human health. However, an in vitro model capable of simulating different deformations of the alveoli and a suitable material for mimicking basement membranes is currently lacking. Here, we present an innovative Biomimetic Controllable Strain Membrane (BCSM) at an air-liquid interface to reconstruct alveolar respiration. The BCSM consists of a high-precision three-dimensional printing melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone (PCL) mesh, coated with a hydrogel substrate—to simulate the important functions (such as stiffness, porosity, wettability, and air-liquid interface) of alveolar microenvironments, and seeded pulmonary epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells on either side, respectively. Inspired by papercutting, the BCSM was fabricated in the plane while it operated in three dimensions. A series of the topological structure of the BCSM was designed to control various local-area strain, mimicking alveolar varied deformation. Lopinavir/ritonavir could reduce Lamin A expression under over-stretch condition, which might be effective in preventing ventilator-induced lung injury. The biomimetic lung-unit model with BCSM has broader application prospects in alveoli-related research in the future, such as in drug toxicology and metabolism.

3D printed grafts with gradient structures for organized vascular regeneration

“…Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a high-precision additive manufacturing technology that can control the fiber diameter (800 nm-150 µm) and accurately deposit fibers to form various three-dimensional (3D) topologies structures, which is widely used in biomedicine and tissue regeneration engineering [37][38][39]. Many researchers have used this technology to fabricate ultrafine fiber porous networks which can simulate natural ECM to regulate cell behavior, such as guiding cell directional growth and depositing collagen fibers [40,41].…”

Recent advances in nature inspired triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered systems

“…The concept of nature inspired TENG design offers promising avenues to address these challenges, drawing inspiration from the intricate mechanisms and structures found in the natural world [18][19][20][21][22][23]. By mimicking biological entities and processes, such as the efficient energy conversion mechanisms of plants and the unique surface textures of animal skins, researchers have begun to improve the material properties and structural designs of TENGs [24][25][26][27][28][29].…”