Lehigh U. Researchers: ‘One step closer to solving the mysteries of the bio / nano interface’

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IMAGE: “Flower-like” microstructures form on a nanoporous glass monolith containing pores with a diameter of 31nm. view more

Credit: Lehigh University Thamma, Kowal, Falk, Jain

An interdisciplinary research team at Lehigh University has discovered how functional biomaterials rely on interfacial protein coating to send signals to living cells regarding their overall compliance, proliferation, and development.

According to an article published today in Scientific Reports, substrate nanoscale properties and characteristics do not directly affect the biological response of cells. However, these properties indirectly affect cell behavior through their control of adsorbed proteins.

In the article, “Nanostructure of bioactive glass affects bone cell binding through extraction protein restructuring,” Lehigh’s team demonstrates that living cells respond to coating properties between surface that emerges as a result of micro- and nano-scale structures engineered into substrate material. . These tiny infinite structures greatly affect the nature of the proteins and how they restructure themselves and interact electronically with the material, which affects the way cells react. binds to the substrate and develops over time.

“There are others who have studied the interface protein level,” said Himanshu Jain, TL Diamond’s Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh, who is also director on the Lehigh Institute for Functional Materials and Tools (I-FMD). “But this work showed directly and unambiguously for the first time how some nanoscale specific properties of the substrate affect the secondary molecular structure of the protein interface that affects the response of the cells to there are thousands more times. “

Professor Jain is leading this research by Matthias Falk, Professor of Cell Biology with Lehigh College of Arts and Sciences. The team is led by two doctoral students led by Falk and Jain – Drs. Tia Kowal, who received a PhD in Biological Sciences and is now a postgraduate researcher at Stanford Medicine, and lead author Dr. Ukrit Thamma, who completed his doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering and is now a lecturer at King Mongkut University of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand.

“Lehigh is increasingly recognized as a place where interdisciplinary team science takes root and thrives,” says Jain. “The creation and mission of Lehigh Interdisciplinary Research Institutes is a strategic approach to this idea – and this project is a way of putting that idea into action. And the vital role our students play, backed by a broad relationship team, speaks for itself. “

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To learn more about the research, please take a look at the March 11 article “Nanostructure of bioactive glass affects bone cell binding through protein remodeling when captured” Scientific Reports.

About the Jain Professor

Dr. Jain’s research activities include potency in glass through foundations. He will serve as TL Diamond’s Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Applied Science, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Director of the Institute for Functional Materials and Tools (I-FMD) at Lehigh University. He is the author of 12 patents and nearly 400 research publications, is the editor or author of ten specialized books or journals on glass science and technology. Over the last three decades it has focused on introducing new potential and novel glass processing through foundations, and providing free access to glass education around the world. In the last few years, he has been developing a model of education-centered doctorate in STEM fields, aimed at practice-driven research through business-university partnership.

About Professor Falk

Matthias Falk, PhD, is Professor of Cell Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Dr. Falk studied biology in Germany and received a PhD from the University of Heidelberg. In 1992 he entered the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California, as a graduate researcher, and was admitted to his faculty in 1998. He entered Lehigh University in the United States. August 2003. Dr. Falk’s research examines the biosynthesis, structure and function of gap junctions, plasma membrane channels that provide direct cell-to-cell communication and cell-to-cell physical compliance. He teaches laboratory classes and courses in Molecular Cell Biology at all levels. It will also test the biocompatibility and bioactivity of bi-porous glass biosffolds for hardened stress regeneration created at the NSF International Materials Institute for New Activity in Glass (IMI-NFG) at Lehigh University. Dr. Falk has published more than 70 manuscripts in international peer-reviewed journals, has attracted extensive funding including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has contributed to great to our understanding of gap knot work in pathology / pathology.

Key links:

– Fence profile: Himanshu Jain, Lehigh University

– Philosophy profile: Matthias Falk, Lehigh University

– Study profile: Tia Kowal, Stanford Medicine

– Study profile: Ukrit Thamma, King Mongkut University of Technology

– Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Lehigh University

– Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University

–Institute for Functional Materials and Tools, Lehigh University

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