Organ-on-a-chip: key industry insights, challenges, and opportunities from 100+ NSF I-Corps interviews.

Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) is a rapidly advancing technology with significant potential to revolutionize healthcare, drug discovery, and personalized medicine. OoC technologies offer cost-effective and ethical platforms that enable the acquisition of physiologically relevant data and enhance our understanding of human disease mechanisms and drug responsiveness. Over the past decade, numerous academic start-ups and spin-offs have sought to translate foundational research on OoC platforms from the lab bench to commercial and real-world applications.

An evaluation of electrocoagulation and thermal diffusion following radiofrequency microneedling using an in vivo porcine skin model.

Background: Few studies exist that examined the role of radiofrequency microneedling (RFMN) in skin electrocoagulation. This research utilized a porcine model to understand bipolar dermal delivery from an RFMN device.

Aims: The objective of this study was to elucidate and compare the dermal thermal effects of a RFMN device producing 1 and 2 MHz signal amplitudes, with respective voltage and current gradients, utilizing noninsulated and insulated needles by examining the histologic effects on porcine skin.

Pilot study: Autologous platelet-rich plasma used in a topical cream for facial rejuvenation.

Background: Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is traditionally used as an injectable material for enhanced healing, hair growth, and facial rejuvenation.

Aims: This research examined the novel use of topical autologously sourced PRP added to a preservative cosmetic base and applied twice daily to the face following electroporation for 8 weeks.

Methods: 20 healthy female and male subjects 30-60 years of age were enrolled in this single-site, investigator blinded, vehicle controlled split-face study to evaluate the effect of a PRP-containing serum versus the serum alone on facial photoaging.

2D Enzyme Cascade Network with Efficient Substrate Channeling by Swinging Arms.

In living cells, compartmentalized or membrane-associated enzymes are often assembled into large networks to cooperatively catalyze cascade reaction pathways essential for cellular metabolism. Here, we report the assembly of an artificial 2D enzyme network of two cascade enzymes-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-on a wireframe DNA origami template. Swinging arms were used to facilitate the transport of the redox intermediate of NAD /NADH between enzyme pairs on the array.

Directional Regulation of Enzyme Pathways through the Control of Substrate Channeling on a DNA Origami Scaffold.

Artificial multi-enzyme systems with precise and dynamic control over the enzyme pathway activity are of great significance in bionanotechnology and synthetic biology. Herein, we exploit a spatially addressable DNA nanoplatform for the directional regulation of two enzyme pathways (G6pDH-MDH and G6pDH-LDH) through the control of NAD(+) substrate channeling by specifically shifting NAD(+) between the two enzyme pairs. We believe that this concept will be useful for the design of regulatory biological circuits for synthetic biology and biomedicine.

A Three-Enzyme Pathway with an Optimised Geometric Arrangement to Facilitate Substrate Transfer.

Cascade reactions drive and regulate a variety of metabolic activities. Efficient coupling of substrate transport between enzymes is important for overall pathway activity and also controls the depletion of intermediate molecules that drive the reaction forward. Here, we assembled a three-enzyme pathway on a series of DNA nanoscaffolds to investigate the dependence of their activities on spatial arrangement.