Featured Publications

Use of En Face Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Identifying Choroidal Flow Voids in 3 Patients With Birdshot Chorioretinopathy

Ruikang Wang and colleagues demonstrate that swept-source OCTA may represent a new and noninvasive method for detecting and monitoring disease activity in BSCR.

2020-10-26T08:12:09-07:00January 2nd, 2019|

Macrophage-targeted drugamers with enzyme-cleavable linkers deliver high intracellular drug dosing and sustained drug pharmacokinetics against alveolar pulmonary infections

Patrick Stayton and colleagues demonstrate the versatility of the drugamer platform for engineering the intracellular pharmacokinetic profiles and its strong therapeutic activity in treating pulmonary intracellular infections.

2020-10-26T08:12:11-07:00January 2nd, 2019|

Mobile Phone Ratiometric Imaging Enables Highly Sensitive Fluorescence Lateral Flow Immunoassays without External Optical Filters

Professor Paul Yager's lab has created a method that enables optical-filter free mobile imaging for medical diagnostics, a first step towards enabling a new generation of highly sensitive, point-of-care fluorescence assays.

2020-10-26T08:12:18-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Desktop-Stereolithography 3D-Printing of a Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-Based Material with Sylgard-184 Properties

Professor Albert Folch's lab reports on the formulation, characterization, and SL application of a 3D?printable PDMS resin (3DP?PDMS) based on commercially available PDMS?methacrylate macromers, a high?efficiency photoinitiator and a high?absorbance photosensitizer. 3DP?PDMS resin enables assembly?free, automated, digital manufacturing of PDMS, which should facilitate the prototyping of devices for microfluidics, organ?on?chip platforms, soft robotics, flexible electronics, and sensors, among others.

2020-10-26T08:12:18-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry—A method to evaluate plasma-modified three-dimensional scaffold chemistry

Research Associate Professor Lara Gamble and colleagues report on a technique for characterizing the distribution and composition of chemical species through complex porous scaffolds. This approach could be widely applicable for ToF-SIMS analysis of scaffolds modified by multiple plasma processing techniques as well as alternative surface modification approaches.

2020-10-26T08:28:42-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Engineering a multicellular vascular niche to model hematopoietic cell trafficking

Assistant Professor Ying Zheng and colleagues developed an engineered human vascular marrow niche to examine the three-dimensional cell interactions that direct hematopoietic cell trafficking. The platform provides a tool to advance study of the interactions between endothelial cells, marrow-derived fibroblasts and hematopoeitic cells that comprise the marrow vascular niche, and has potential for use in testing therapeutics and personalized medicine.

2020-10-26T08:28:43-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Human Organ-Specific Endothelial Cell Heterogeneity

BioE faculty Charles Murry, Kelly Stevens and Ying Zheng, and interdisciplinary colleagues from across UW, investigated the properties of endothelial cells (ECs), isolated from four human major organs—the heart, lung, liver, and kidneys—in individual fetal tissues at three months' gestation, at gene expression, and at cellular function levels. Their findings showed the link between human EC heterogeneity and organ development and can be exploited therapeutically to contribute in organ regeneration, disease modeling, as well as guiding differentiation of tissue-specific ECs from human pluripotent stem cells.

2020-10-26T08:28:43-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Exclusion zone and heterogeneous water structure at ambient temperature

Professor Gerald Pollack and colleagues report the formation of a ‘three-dimensional cell-like structured exclusion zone’ in water prepared by two different methods. Based on their findings of an electric potential difference between the heterogeneous structured water and the ordinary water, the researchers propose a new model to explain the relationship between heterogeneous, structured water and its electrical properties.

2020-10-26T08:28:43-07:00July 4th, 2018|

Targeting sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase as an anabolic therapy for bone loss

Research Associate Professor Marta Scatena and a team of collaborators show that raising Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) levels in adult mice through conditionally deleting or pharmacologically inhibiting S1P lyase, the sole enzyme responsible for irreversibly degrading S1P, markedly increased bone formation, mass and strength and substantially decreased white adipose tissue.

2021-01-08T06:08:43-08:00July 4th, 2018|

Single-cell profiling of the developing mouse brain and spinal cord with split-pool barcoding

Researchers from Georg Seelig’s (Electrical Engineering, adjunct BioE) and Suzie Pun/Drew Sellers’ labs, and the Allen Institute for Brain Science, have developed a new single-cell RNA sequencing method that can reliably track gene activity in a tissue sample to the individual cell level.

2020-10-26T08:28:48-07:00March 16th, 2018|

Noncovalent tagging of siRNA with steroids for transmembrane delivery

The Gao lab reports on the development of small, bifunctional chemical tags capable of transporting siRNA directly into the cytosol. The bifunctional tags consist of a siRNA-binding moiety that interacts with siRNA non-covalently, and a steroid domain that readily fuses with the mammalian cell membrane.

2020-10-26T08:28:48-07:00March 16th, 2018|

Increased Calcific Aortic Valve Disease in response to a diabetogenic, procalcific diet in the LDLr-/-ApoB100/100 mouse model

The Scatena and Giachelli labs developed an animal model that mimicked the structural and functional features of CAVD in people with T2DM, by testing a diabetogenic, procalcific diet and its effect on the incidence and severity of CAVD and AS in the, LDLr-/-ApoB100/100 mouse model.

2021-01-08T06:09:10-08:00March 16th, 2018|

Comparison of Neovascular Lesion Area Measurements From Different Swept-Source OCT Angiographic Scan Patterns in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

The researchers compared area measurements for the same neovascular lesions imaged using swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and enlarging scan patterns. The similarity in lesion area measurements across different scan patterns suggests that SS-OCTA imaging can be used to follow quantitatively the enlargement of choroidal neovascularization as the disease progresses.

2020-10-26T08:28:51-07:00December 14th, 2017|

Nanoparticle-releasing nanofiber composites for enhanced in vivo vaginal retention

Current approaches for topical vaginal administration of nanoparticles result in poor retention and extensive leakage. To overcome these challenges, the researchers developed a nanoparticle-releasing nanofiber delivery platform and evaluated its ability to improve nanoparticle retention in a murine model. In this first study of nanoparticle releasing fibers for drug delivery, they discovered that the system demonstrated 30-fold increased nanoparticle retention in the reproductive tract 24 hours following administration.

2020-10-26T08:28:51-07:00December 14th, 2017|

High-throughput characterization of protein–protein interactions by reprogramming yeast mating

The researchers achieved high-throughput, quantitative characterization of protein–protein binding interactions without requiring purified recombinant proteins, by linking interaction strength with yeast mating. Using a next-generation sequencing output, they characterized protein networks consisting of thousands of pairwise interactions in a single tube and have demonstrated the effect of changing the binding environment.

2020-10-26T08:28:52-07:00December 14th, 2017|

Chemical Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Protein Conformations and Supercomplexes in Heart Tissue

The researchers demonstrate the application of crosslinking mass spectrometry to identify protein structural features and interactions in tissue samples, providing systems structural biology insight into protein complexes as they exist in the mouse heart. The extension of crosslinking mass spectrometry analysis into the realm of tissues opens the door to increasing understanding of protein structures and interactions within the context of the greater biological system.

2020-10-26T08:28:52-07:00December 14th, 2017|

Loss of PiT-2 results in abnormal bone development and decreased bone mineral density and length in mice

The study's findings suggest that PiT-2 is involved in normal bone development and growth and plays roles in cortical and trabecular bone metabolism feasibly by regulating local phosphate transport and mineralization processes in the bone. Further studies that evaluate bone cell-specific loss of PiT-2 are now warranted and may yield insight into complex mechanisms of bone development and growth, leading to identification of new therapeutic options for patients with bone diseases.

2020-10-26T08:28:52-07:00December 14th, 2017|

Fast and sensitive HPLC–MS/MS method for direct quantification of intracellular deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates from tissue and cells

This study validates a fast and sensitive HPLC–MS/MS method for direct quantification of intracellular dNTPs from tissue. Compared to existing methods, this study presents a faster and more sensitive method for dNTP quantification.

2020-10-26T08:28:52-07:00December 14th, 2017|

In situ expansion of engineered human liver tissue in a mouse model of chronic liver disease

Stevens et al. fabricated artificial liver seeds in biomaterials that were able to grow after implantation into mice in response to liver injury, and began to carry out normal liver functions. The work offers an approach to study organ development and a possible strategy for organ engineering.

2020-10-26T08:28:55-07:00July 24th, 2017|

Dramatic enhancement of the detection limits of bioassays via ultrafast deposition of polydopamine

The researchers report a simple, universal "add-on" technology (EASE) that converts the ordinary sensitivities of common bioassays to extraordinary ones. They demonstrate that EASE facilitated increased sensitivity of ELISA-based detection of HIV, and enabled the direct visualization in tissues of the Zika virus and of low-abundance biomarkers for neurological diseases and cancer immunotherapy.

2020-10-26T08:29:16-07:00July 12th, 2017|

Designed a-sheet peptides suppress amyloid formation in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms

The researchers have designed small proteins that can inhibit the formation of biofilms, common sources of infection for hundreds of patients worldwide, especially with those who have implanted medical devices. Their designed anti-a-sheet peptides suppressed the formation of biofilm in S. aureus, a bacteria resistant to many drugs, by about half, and prevented aggregation of infectious proteins through their binding mechanism.

2020-10-26T08:29:16-07:00July 12th, 2017|

Disposable autonomous device for swab-to-result diagnosis of influenza

The researchers demonstrate a prototype of a self-contained, automated, disposable device for chemically amplified protein-based detection of influenza virus from nasal swab specimens. The device was tested in a clinical setting and was well received by patients and clinicians, further inspiring further optimization of the device.

2020-10-26T08:29:16-07:00July 12th, 2017|

Chitosan enhances nanoparticle delivery from the reproductive tract to target draining lymphoid organs

The researchers propose a method to achieve enhanced immune response against viral infections in the female reproductive tract. They demonstrate that intravaginal pre-treatment with chitosan significantly facilitates translocation of nanoparticles across the the multilayered vaginal epithelium to target draining lymph nodes.

2020-10-26T08:29:16-07:00July 12th, 2017|

Synthetic Macromolecular Antibiotic Platform for Inhalable Therapy against Aerosolized Intracellular Alveolar Infections

The researchers demonstrate a macromolecular therapeutic platform that provides sustained local delivery of ciprofloxacin. Their work addresses the unmet need for inhaled treatments for lung-based intracellular bacterial infections such as Franciscella tularensis pneumonia (tularemia), which are currently treated with oral or IV antibiotics that poorly achieve and sustain pulmonary drug bioavailability.

2020-10-26T08:29:16-07:00July 12th, 2017|

Anisotropic forces from spatially constrained focal adhesions mediate contact guidance directed cell migration

The researchers investigate whole cell and molecular level interactions that mediate contact guidance of phenotypically distinct carcinoma cells. By using nano-patterning techniques to produce substrates that facilitate detailed analysis, they identify a cellular mechanism of topographic sensing that can account for the diversity of responses across multiple cell phenotypes.

2020-10-26T08:29:17-07:00July 12th, 2017|
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