Amino acid 15 N analysis reveals change in the importance of freshwater resources between the hunter-gatherer and farmer in the Neolithic upper Tigris.

OBJECTIVE: The inhabitants of several sites in the Upper Tigris Valley, such as Hakemi Use, domesticated animals and cereals during the Pottery Neolithic period, while the inhabitants in this valley were hunter-gatherers in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, consuming freshwater and terrestrial food resources. However, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding whether or not changes in dietary food composition accompanied the shift in food production away from foraging. In order to reveal the impact of the development of agriculture on the human diet over the Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic periods in this region, we analyzed the isotopic compositions of amino acids from the farmers at the Hakemi Use Pottery Neolithic site, and compared them with those from the Pre-Pottery hunter-gatherers in the close region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Herein, we report the nitrogen isotopic compositions of amino acids, as well as both carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of bulk collagen, from human and faunal remains collected from Hakemi Use. RESULTS: Whereas freshwater resources were consumed by hunter-gatherers in this region during the Pre-Pottery period, the δ15 N values of glutamic acid (δ15 NGlu ) and phenylalanine (δ15 NPhe ) suggest that freshwater food resources were rarely consumed by inhabitants following the development of agriculture. DISCUSSION: Despite living in similar settings by the Tigris as its inhabitants during the Pre-Pottery period, the farmers of the Pottery Neolithic period depended less on freshwater resources for their diets relative to the hunter-gatherers of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period.

Effects of 3D culturing conditions on the transcriptomic profile of stem-cell-derived neurons.

Understanding neurological diseases requires tractable genetic systems. Engineered 3D neural tissues are an attractive choice, but how the cellular transcriptomic profiles in these tissues are affected by the encapsulating materials and are related to the human-brain transcriptome is not well understood. Here, we report the characterization of the effects of culturing conditions on the transcriptomic profiles of induced neuronal cells, as well as a method for the rapid generation of 3D co-cultures of neuronal and astrocytic cells from the same pool of human embryonic stem cells. By comparing the gene-expression profiles of neuronal cells in culture conditions relevant to the developing human brain, we found that modifying the degree of crosslinking of composite hydrogels can tune expression patterns so they correlate with those of specific brain regions and developmental stages. Moreover, by using single-cell sequencing, we show that our engineered tissues recapitulate transcriptional patterns of cell types in the human brain. The analysis of culturing conditions will inform the development of 3D neural tissues for use as tractable models of brain diseases.

Hydrogel surfaces to promote attachment and spreading of endothelial progenitor cells.

Endothelialization of artificial vascular grafts is a challenging process in cardiovascular tissue engineering. Functionalized biomaterials could be promising candidates to promote endothelialization in repair of cardiovascular injuries. The purpose of this study was to synthesize hyaluronic acid (HA) and heparin-based hydrogels that could promote adhesion and spreading of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). We report that the addition of heparin into HA-based hydrogels provides an attractive surface for EPCs promoting spreading and the formation of an endothelial monolayer on the hydrogel surface. To increase EPC adhesion and spreading, we covalently immobilized CD34 antibody (Ab) on HA-heparin hydrogels, using standard EDC/NHS amine-coupling strategies. We found that EPC adhesion and spreading on CD34 Ab-immobilized HA-heparin hydrogels was significantly higher than their non-modified analogues. Once adhered, EPCs spread and formed an endothelial layer on both non-modified and CD34 Ab-modified HA-heparin hydrogels after 3 days of culture. We did not observe significant adhesion and spreading when heparin was not included in the control hydrogels. In addition to EPCs, we also used human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), which adhered and spread on HA-heparin hydrogels. Macrophages exhibited significantly less adhesion compared to EPCs on the same hydrogels. This composite material could possibly be used to develop surface coatings for artificial cardiovascular implants, due to its specificity for EPC and endothelial cells on an otherwise non-thrombogenic surface.

Carbon nanotube reinforced hybrid microgels as scaffold materials for cell encapsulation.

Hydrogels that mimic biological extracellular matrix (ECM) can provide cells with mechanical support and signaling cues to regulate their behavior. However, despite the ability of hydrogels to generate artificial ECM that can modulate cellular behavior, they often lack the mechanical strength needed for many tissue constructs. Here, we present reinforced CNT-gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hybrid as a biocompatible, cell-responsive hydrogel platform for creating cell-laden three-dimensional (3D) constructs. The addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) successfully reinforced GelMA hydrogels without decreasing their porosity or inhibiting cell growth. The CNT-GelMA hybrids were also photopatternable allowing for easy fabrication of microscale structures without harsh processes. NIH-3T3 cells and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) readily spread and proliferated after encapsulation in CNT-GelMA hybrid microgels. By controlling the amount of CNTs incorporated into the GelMA hydrogel system, we demonstrated that the mechanical properties of the hybrid material can be tuned making it suitable for various tissue engineering applications. Furthermore, due to the high pattern fidelity and resolution of CNT incorporated GelMA, it can be used for in vitro cell studies or fabricating complex 3D biomimetic tissue-like structures.

Responsive micromolds for sequential patterning of hydrogel microstructures.

Microscale hydrogels have been shown to be beneficial for various applications such as tissue engineering and drug delivery. A key aspect in these applications is the spatial organization of biological entities or chemical compounds within hydrogel microstructures. For this purpose, sequentially patterned microgels can be used to spatially organize either living materials to mimic biological complexity or multiple chemicals to design functional microparticles for drug delivery. Photolithographic methods are the most common way to pattern microscale hydrogels but are limited to photocrosslinkable polymers. So far, conventional micromolding approaches use static molds to fabricate structures, limiting the resulting shapes that can be generated. Herein, we describe a dynamic micromolding technique to fabricate sequentially patterned hydrogel microstructures by exploiting the thermoresponsiveness of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based micromolds. These responsive micromolds exhibited shape changes under temperature variations, facilitating the sequential molding of microgels at two different temperatures. We fabricated multicompartmental striped, cylindrical, and cubic microgels that encapsulated fluorescent polymer microspheres or different cell types. These responsive micromolds can be used to immobilize living materials or chemicals into sequentially patterned hydrogel microstructures which may potentially be useful for a range of applications at the interface of chemistry, materials science and engineering, and biology.

Responsive microgrooves for the formation of harvestable tissue constructs.

Given its biocompatibility, elasticity, and gas permeability, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is widely used to fabricate microgrooves and microfluidic devices for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture studies. However, conformal coating of complex PDMS devices prepared by standard microfabrication techniques with desired chemical functionality is challenging. This study describes the conformal coating of PDMS microgrooves with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) by using initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). These microgrooves guided the formation of tissue constructs from NIH-3T3 fibroblasts that could be retrieved by the temperature-dependent swelling property and hydrophilicity change of the PNIPAAm. The thickness of swollen PNIPAAm films at 24 °C was approximately 3 times greater than at 37 °C. Furthermore, PNIPAAm-coated microgroove surfaces exhibit increased hydrophilicity at 24 °C (contact angle θ = 30° ± 2) compared to 37 °C (θ = 50° ± 1). Thus PNIPAAm film on the microgrooves exhibits responsive swelling with higher hydrophilicity at room temperature, which could be used to retrieve tissue constructs. The resulting tissue constructs were the same size as the grooves and could be used as modules in tissue fabrication. Given its ability to form and retrieve cell aggregates and its integration with standard microfabrication, PNIPAAm-coated PDMS templates may become useful for 3D cell culture applications in tissue engineering and drug discovery.

Stimuli-responsive microwells for formation and retrieval of cell aggregates.

Generating cell aggregates is beneficial for various applications ranging from biotechnology to regenerative therapies. Previously, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) microwells have been demonstrated as a potentially useful method for generating controlled-size cell aggregates. In addition to controlling cell aggregate size and homogeneity, the ability to confine cell aggregates on glass adhesive substrates and subsequently retrieve aggregates from microwells for further experimentation and analysis could be beneficial for various applications. However, it is often difficult to retrieve cell aggregates from these microwells without the use of digestive enzymes. This study describes the stable formation of cell aggregates in responsive microwells with adhesive substrates and their further retrieval in a temperature dependent manner by exploiting the stimuli responsiveness of these microwells. The responsive polymer structure of the arrays can be used to thermally regulate the microwell diameters causing a mechanical force on the aggregates, subsequently facilitating the retrieval of cell aggregates from the microwells with high efficiency compared to PEG arrays. This approach can be potentially integrated into high-throughput systems and may become a versatile tool for various applications that require aggregate formation and experimentation, such as tissue engineering, drug discovery, and stem cell biology.