The researchers at Columbia Engineering have achieved a groundbreaking feat in regenerative medicine. By leveraging milk-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) from yogurt, they’ve created an injectable hydrogel that not only mimics human tissue but also actively promotes healing and tissue regeneration without additional chemical additives. This innovative approach marks a significant milestone in addressing longstanding barriers in biomaterial development for regenerative medicine.

Led by Santiago Correa, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, the team designed a hydrogel system where EVs play a dual role: they serve as bioactive cargo, carrying hundreds of biological signals, and also act as essential structural building blocks, crosslinking biocompatible polymers to form an injectable material. This design space allows for the generation of hydrogels that incorporate EVs as both structural and biological elements.

The team’s unconventional approach using yogurt EVs overcame yield constraints that hindered the development of EV-based biomaterials. The resulting hydrogel was found to be biocompatible, drive potent angiogenic activity within one week in immunocompetent mice, and promote tissue repair processes without adverse reactions.

“The project started as a basic question about how to build EV-based hydrogels,” said Correa. “Yogurt EVs gave us a practical tool for that, but they turned out to be more than a model. We found that they have inherent regenerative potential, which opens the door to new, accessible therapeutic materials.”

This study demonstrates the power of cross-disciplinary, global partnerships in advancing biomaterials innovation. The team’s collaboration with researchers from the University of Padova and Kam Leong, a fellow Columbia Engineering faculty member, further strengthened their findings.

As Correa’s team explores the therapeutic potential of this hydrogel, they are also examining how it creates a unique immune environment enriched in anti-inflammatory cell types, which may contribute to observed tissue repair processes. This research opens new possibilities for regenerative medicine and highlights the exciting advancements in biomedical engineering.

The scientific community has been working towards developing safer alternatives to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of chemicals commonly used in non-stick coatings. Researchers at the University of Toronto Engineering have made significant progress in this area by creating a new material that repels both water and grease about as well as standard PFAS-based coatings, but with much lower amounts of these chemicals.

Professor Kevin Golovin and his team have been working on developing alternative materials to replace Teflon, which has been used for decades due to its non-stick properties. However, the chemical inertness that makes Teflon so effective also causes it to persist in the environment and accumulate in biological tissues, leading to health concerns.

The researchers’ solution is a material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), often sold as silicone. They have developed a new chemistry technique called nanoscale fletching, which bonds short chains of PDMS to a base material, resembling bristles on a brush. To improve the oil-repelling ability, they added the shortest possible PFAS molecule, consisting of a single carbon with three fluorines on it.

When coated on a piece of fabric and tested with various oils, the new coating achieved a grade of 6, placing it on par with many standard PFAS-based coatings. While this may seem like a small improvement, it’s a crucial step towards creating safer alternatives to Teflon and other PFAS-based materials.

The team is now working on further improving their material, aiming to create a substance that outperforms Teflon without using any PFAS at all. This would be a significant breakthrough in the field, paving the way for the development of even safer non-stick coatings for consumer products.

In conclusion, scientists have made significant progress in developing a safer alternative to Teflon and other PFAS-based materials. The new material has shown promising results, and further research is needed to improve its performance and scalability. As we move forward, it’s essential to prioritize the development of safe and sustainable technologies that minimize harm to both humans and the environment.

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Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that can revolutionize the way mRNA vaccines are designed and delivered. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to tweak the structure of ionizable lipids, a key component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), to reduce inflammation and boost vaccine effectiveness.

Until now, LNPs have largely been synthesized using chemical reactions that combine two components into a new molecule. However, this process has limited the variety of molecular outcomes and led to unwanted side effects. The team discovered an alternative approach: the Mannich reaction, which combines three precursors to create hundreds of new lipids.

By incorporating phenol groups, a combination of hydrogen and oxygen connected to a ring of carbon molecules, into these new lipids, researchers have found that inflammation is substantially reduced. This breakthrough has significant implications for the development of mRNA vaccines for treating various diseases, including COVID-19, cancer, and genetic disorders.

The new LNPs not only reduce inflammation but also improve vaccine performance. In multiple experiments, C-a16 LNPs, which incorporate the most anti-inflammatory lipid, outperformed traditional LNPs used in on-the-market mRNA technologies. These results have far-reaching consequences for the field of medicine, as they could lead to more effective and safer treatments for a wide range of diseases.

The team’s findings also shed light on the potential of overlooked chemical processes like the Mannich reaction to unlock new LNP-enhancing recipes. This study was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) and the Perelman School of Medicine (Penn Medicine), and was supported by various grants and awards.

This tiny chemistry hack has the potential to make mRNA vaccines safer, stronger, and smarter, revolutionizing the field of medicine and opening up new frontiers for scientific discovery.