IMX Talks - Complex tissue-inspired materials based on supramolecular polymers

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the natural, structural material that resides in tissues and organs thereby displaying important biochemical functions in controlling cell behavior and cell fate. This ECM, being in continuous interaction with cells, is constantly reshaped and restructured to meet the demands of the tissue. This interactive and dynamic behavior is called dynamic reciprocity; i.e. cells interact and react to the ECM, and the ECM reacts to the cells, and vice versa. An important challenge in the synthesis and formulation of a synthetic ECM, is the balance between dynamics and robustness. We showed that supramolecular polymer systems based on fourfold hydrogen bonding ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) unist are eminently suitable to formulate both dynamic and robust ECM-inspired materials. The dynamic exchange of guests in a highly dynamic telechelic bifunctional UPy-poly(ethylene glycol) (BF UPy-PEG) system in water could be tuned by addition of monofunctional (shorter) UPy-oligo(ethylene glycols) (MF UPy-OEG) in dilute solution. We showed that MF UPy-OEG molecules formed long robust fibers, and that MF bioactive guests (or dyes as model compounds for visualization/analysis) slowly exchanged from these fibers. Hydrogelation could be induced by the addition of a small amount of BF UPy-PEG crosslinker. In this way, the stress relaxation of mixtures of BF UPy-PEG and MF UPy-OEG molecules could be changed. Importantly, stress stiffening behavior was engineered into our networks via addition of polyisocyanide polymers. Excitingly, using MF bioactive guests in the form of cell adhesion ligands in various mixtures, we were able to specifically control cell adhesion. This demonstrates that the dynamic exchange of bioactive guests influences cells. Achieving complex tissue-inspired materials for the culture of cells and organoid-like structures we aim to establish bio-communication. For this reason we formulated our supramolecular polymer systems into microgels, thereby introducing complexity at the mesoscale.

Bio: Patricia Y.W. Dankers, PhD, PhD, is full professor in Biomedical Materials and Chemistry in the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, in the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and the Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering, at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).
She studied chemistry at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, where she majored in biochemistry and organic chemistry. During her PhD in natural sciences/chemistry at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the group of prof.dr. E.W. (Bert) Meijer, she combined her fascination for biochemistry and supramolecular chemistry. She developed and studied supramolecular bioactive biomaterials by introducing a modular approach. Here, she laid the foundation for the supramolecular polymers nowadays used by Xeltis in their RestoreXTM technology to treat patients with cardiovascular pathologies.
After her PhD defense in 2006, she worked for the company SupraPolix in Eindhoven, and in the laboratory of Pathology and Medical Biology at the University Medical Center Groningen where together with prof.dr. Marja J.A. van Luyn she initiated the bioartificial kidney project in the Netherlands. She defended her second PhD thesis in medical sciences on kidney regenerative medicine at the University of Groningen in 2013. In 2010 she worked in the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, USA, in the research group of prof.dr. Samuel I. Stupp. She has climbed every step on the academic ladder, from assistant professor (2008) and tenured associate professor (2014) till full professor (2017).
She is a Veni and Vidi laureate (2008 and 2017) and received an ERC starting grant (2012). She has been awarded various (EU) grants and awards, such as the DSM Science & Technology award, the Pauline van Wachem award for the best thesis in biomaterials research and tissue engineering and the Journal of Polymer Science Innovation award at the ACS (2019). From 2011-2013 she has been a member of the first Jonge Gezondheidsraad (JongGR). She has been a member and board member of De Jonge Akademie (DJA) of the KNAW (2015-2020). She has been the president of the Netherlands Society of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (NBTE) for a few years. She founded and is currently leading the Eindhoven Young Academy of Engineering (EYAE) at TU/e. Since 2019, she is the chair of the Chemistry Round Table of NWO. This table is the voice of the chemical research community to the NWO Science Domain. Additionally, she considers the promulgation of science to society a very important topic.