38 documents found, page 1 of 4
Modeling 3D tumor invasiveness to modulate macrophage phenotype in a human-base...
Monteiro, Cátia F.; Almeida, Catarina R.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.The immune system is a pivotal player in determining tumor fate, contributing to the immunosuppressive microenvironment that supports tumor progression. Considering the emergence of biomaterials as promising platforms to mimic the tumor microenvironment, human platelet lysate (PLMA)-based hydrogel beads are proposed as 3D platforms to recapitulate the tumor milieu and recreate the synergistic tumor-macrophage c...
Human chorionic membrane-derived tunable hydrogels for vascular tissue engineer...
Martins, Elisa A. G.; Deus, Inês A.; Gomes, Maria C.; Silva, Ana S.; Mano, João F.; Custódio, Catarina A.One of the foremost targets in the advancement of biomaterials to engineer vascularized tissues is not only to replicate the composition of the intended tissue but also to create thicker structures incorporating a vascular network for adequate nutrients and oxygen supply. For the first time, to the best of current knowledge, a clinically relevant biomaterial is developed, demonstrating that hydrogels made from ...
Tumor‐on‐a‐chip model incorporating human‐based hydrogels for easy assessment o...
Monteiro, Cátia F.; Deus, Inês A.; Silva, Inês B.; Duarte, Iola F.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.The coordinated migration of invasive tumor cells is a complex and dynamic mechanism driven by diverse cellular and molecular events. Unfortunately, the inherent heterogeneity within tumors raises multiple challenges in deciphering key biomarkers and novel therapeutic approaches to prevent tumor metastasis. Here, a microengineered tumor-on-a-chip system incorporating human platelet lysate hydrogels is proposed ...
Human platelet lysate-derived nanofibrils as building blocks to produce free-st...
Monteiro, Cátia F.; Gomes, Maria C.; Bharmoria, Pankaj; Freire, Mara G.; Coutinho, João A. P.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.Amyloid-like fibrils are garnering keen interest in biotechnology as supramolecular nanofunctional units to be used as biomimetic platforms to control cell behavior. Recent insights into fibril functionality have highlighted their importance in tissue structure, mechanical properties, and improved cell adhesion, emphasizing the need for scalable and high-kinetics fibril synthesis. In this study, we present the ...
Photocrosslinkable microgels derived from human platelet lysates: injectable bi...
Santos, Sara C.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.Cardiovascular diseases are a major global cause of morbidity and mortality, and they are often characterized by cardiomyocytes dead that ultimately leads to myocardial ischemia (MI). This condition replaces functional cardiac tissue with fibrotic scar tissue compromising heart function. Injectable systems for the in situ delivery of cells or molecules to assist during tissue repair have emerged as promising ap...
A self‐sustaining hydrogels with autonomous supply of nutrients and bioactive d...
Zargarzadeh, Mehrzad; Gomes, Maria C.; Patrício, Sónia G.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.Photo-crosslinkable platelet lysate (PL)-based hydrogels have been proven to support human-derived cell cultures owing to their high content of bioactive molecules, such as cytokines and growth factors. As a unique self-maintained and biocompatible 3D scaffold, the recently reported self-feeding hydrogels with enzyme-empowered degradation capacity have shown high biological performance in vitro and in vivo. To ...
Core-shell microcapsules: biofabrication and potential applications in tissue e...
Ladeira, Bruno M.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.The fabrication of scaffolds that accurately recreate the architecture of living tissues is a major challenge in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Core-shell microcapsules hold great potential in this regard, as they can recreate the hierarchical structure of biological systems. The independent modulation of the composition of both core and shell layers allows the design of compartmenta...
Self-glucose feeding hydrogels by enzyme empowered degradation for 3D cell culture
Zargarzadeh, Mehrzad; Silva, A. Sofia; Nunes, Cláudia; Coimbra, Manuel A.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.Hydrogels have been used in combination with cells for several biomedical and biotechnological applications. Nevertheless, the use of bulk hydrogels has exhibited severe limitations in diffusion of oxygen, nutrients, and metabolites. Here, a support for cell culture is reported where glucose is generated in situ by the own hydrogel degradation, allowing cell survival and function while promoting tissue growth. ...
Designing highly customizable human based platforms for cell culture using prot...
Deus, Inês A.; Santos, Sara C.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.In the past few years researchers have witnessed a paradigm shift in the development of biomaterials for drug discovery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. After the great advances resulting from the transition of the 2D to the 3D, the new focus has been to increase the clinical relevance of such systems, as well as avoid the use of animals, by developing platforms that better replicate the human ph...
Human protein-based porous scaffolds as platforms for xeno-free 3D cell culture
Santos, Sara C.; Custódio, Catarina A.; Mano, João F.Extracellular matrix and protein-based biomaterials emerge as attractive sources to produce scaffolds due to their great properties regarding biocompatibility and bioactivity. In addition, there are concerns regarding the use of animal-derived supplements in cell culture not only due to the risk of transmission of xenogeneic contaminants and antigens but also due to ethical issues associated with collection met...