Degradable polymers are considered to present a promising solution combat plastic pollution.

Lignin is the major limiting factor in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into liquid biofuels. Over the past decade, researchers have made a number of exciting observations that have significantly extended our possibilities of engineering plant cell walls. One of these findings is that plants can tolerate large variations in the composition of the normal lignin units in the cell wall. S...

Cell sheet-mediated tissue regeneration is a promising approach for corneal reconstruction. However, the fragility of bioengineered corneal endothelial cell (CEC) monolayers allows us to take advantage of cross-linked porous gelatin hydrogels as cell sheet carriers for intraocular delivery. The aim of this study was to further investigate the effects of biopolymer concentrations (5-15 wt%) on t...

Cells and tissues are mechanical as well as biochemical machines, and cellular response to mechanical cues can have as large an influence on structure and function as chemical signals. The mechanical properties of cells are largely determined by networks of semiflexible polymers forming the cytoskeleton, which has viscoelastic properties that differ in important ways from the viscoelasticity of...

The progress of modern biology demands an interdisciplinary approach to research, bridging the gap between previously disparate fields. This thesis presents a study of the elasticity and microstructure of neurofilaments, which are the primary constituents of neurons, providing the essential mechanical support to resist external stresses. To probe the underlying mechanical properties of neurofil...

The concept of solid phase synthesis began as a new approach to the preparation of peptides, but has been extended to the synthesis of polynucleotides, polysaccharides, polyamides and a variety of other classes of compounds. The solid support simplifies and accelerates the synthetic process, aids the separation of reagents and by-products, and reduces problems of insolubility of intermediates. ...

the effects of chitosan/biopolymer (c/p) and nanohydroxyapatite/ biopolymer (nha/p) weight ratios on particle size and its uniformity, cross-linking density and nh2 content of nano-hydroxyapatite/chitosan/gelatin (nha/c/g) microspheres were investigated. microspheres were fabricated using water-in-oil emulsion. cross-linking of microspheres was performed using water soluble carbodiimide. partic...

Biopolymers are polymer structures produced by living organisms. These molecules, like synthetic polymers, are built from monomers. There are three main classes of biopolymers based on the chemical nature of themonomeric units and the structure of the biopolymer formed. Polypeptides are chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. Proteins consist of one ormore polypeptide chains fol...