Understanding how the spatial distribution of adhesive ligands regulates cell behavior is crucial for designing biomaterials. This study investigates how precisely controlled ligand spacing affects cell spreading and integrin subtype engagement. Using engineered polyacrylamide hydrogels with gold nanoparticle arrays, we explored the impact of RGD ligand spacings (30 and 150 nm) on human mesenchymal stromal cells. Cells exhibited distinct morphological behaviors: smaller spacings promoted larger spreading areas, while larger spacings resulted in elongated shapes with reduced spreading. Mechanistically, we found that the α5β1 integrin, not the αvβ3 integrin, played a central role in mediating these responses, alongside lamellipodia formation. Our findings provide critical insights into the spatial sensing of ligands, highlighting the influence of ligand spacing on cellular mechanotransduction and integrin-specific responses. This work advances the understanding of cell-material interactions and offers potential strategies for designing biomaterials to guide cell behavior in tissue engineering.
In practical applications of surface-modified nanoparticles (NPs), the washing stage has a number of challenges, such as insufficient washing, long treatment time, and various waste liquors. Cosolvent-enhanced supercritical CO2 (scCO2) is an appealing solvent system for complete, rapid, and eco-friendly washing owing to its high diffusivity and recyclability. In this paper, we report a rapid washing guideline for surface-modified NPs using ethanol-enhanced scCO2. Kinetic analysis was performed on the washing behavior of oleic acid-modified NPs mixed with various modifiers (C10 to C18 fatty acids) at 40 °C and 20.0 MPa while designing scCO2 media based on rationally estimated modifier solubilities. Notably, the scCO2 medium showed superior washing rates to that of ethanol for various modifiers with a wide range of solubilities in scCO2. The washing rate was dependent on solubility and could be organized into two regions, with a threshold value of 0.016 mol kg-1: solubility/diffusivity-controlled and diffusivity-controlled washing. These findings provide valuable guidelines for designing cosolvent-enhanced scCO2 media for the rapid washing of surface-modified NPs.
Previous studies have confirmed that MnOx removes heavy metal ions and organic pollutants from water with dual effects of adsorption and oxidation coupling, significantly improving the ability to remove impurities. Nanometal oxides have a highly reactive surface but tend to agglomerate during preparation and are challenging to recycle after use. A common method is to combine nano-MnO2 with Fe3O4 to prepare magnetic materials for easy recycling. Our previous research has confirmed that catechol (CA) and (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (KH550) can be co-deposited on the surface of polypropylene nonwovens to form a stable CK coating under alkaline conditions. In addition, the coating has many active groups, including hydroxyl groups, amino groups, etc. This study further investigates the secondary reactivity of CK coatings. The coordination of catechol groups and metal ions was used to anchor manganese ions to the coating. Meanwhile, the hydroxyl and amino groups were used to reduce manganese ions to Mn4+ in situ to prepare PP-(CK-MnO2). We found that the sample had an excellent decolorization effect on cationic dyes but was limited to anionic dyes. The decolorization mechanism of cationic dyes was further discussed. The results showed that the decolorization of cationic dyes had a dual effect of adsorption and oxidative degradation. Under acidic conditions, its oxidation properties were enhanced. It can be used as a highly effective decolorizing agent for cationic dyes, and the decolorization behavior is consistent with the first-order kinetics. As the pH increases, its oxidation properties gradually decrease. Although the electrostatic adsorption effect was enhanced, the overall decolorization performance was significantly reduced. Recycling experiments have proved that it can maintain >90% removal rate after five cycles. This study also demonstrated that the CK coating has dopamine-like properties, which can coordinate with metal ions to prepare metal-organic hybrid materials.
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