Microgel Aspect Ratio Influences Injectable Granular Hydrogel Scaffold Pore Structure and Cellular Invasion for Tissue Repair.
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2025-11
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Granular hydrogels are emerging as an important class of scaffolds for biomedical applications, due to their injectability and pore structure to support cellular infiltration. Past research has primarily focused on spherical microgels, which allows limited control over granular hydrogel pore size and void volume fraction; however, investigation into microgels with higher aspect ratios has allowed even higher porosity. This study explores the impact of hyaluronic acid microgel aspect ratio (ranging from 3 to 5) on granular hydrogel porosity and cellular interactions. Both simulations and experimental results show increased void volume fractions and pore sizes in granular hydrogels formed from rod-like microgels when compared to volume-matched spherical microgels, which results in increased cellular invasion with an endothelial cell spheroid migration assay. Injection of the hydrogels into a confined space alters particle packing and void space, but porosity is still higher when rod-like microgels are used, which results in increased cellular invasion when injected subcutaneously. Finally, the highest aspect ratio microgels are used as injectable granular hydrogels to treat myocardial infarction in rats and show reduced infarct area and enhanced functional outcomes when compared to untreated controls. This work provides further insight into microgel shape considerations for engineered granular hydrogels.
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Rodriguez-Rivera, Gabriel J, Siddharth Sharma, Chima V Maduka, Sara Boyd, Amy R Perry, Nikolas Di Caprio, Lindsay Riley, Connor E Miksch, et al. (2025). Microgel Aspect Ratio Influences Injectable Granular Hydrogel Scaffold Pore Structure and Cellular Invasion for Tissue Repair. Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 12(43). p. e11513. 10.1002/advs.202511513 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/34187.
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Tatiana Segura
Tatiana Segura is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Neurology, and Dermatology at Duke University. She received her B.S. degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and her doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University. She began her career in Biomaterials research during her doctoral work working with Prof. Lonnie Shea. She designed hydrogels for local non-viral gene delivery, a topic that she still works on today. She continued her Biomaterials training during her postdoctoral work with Jeffrey Hubbell. There she worked on the design of hydrogels and self-assembled polysulfides for gene delivery. She began her independent career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering reaching the title of Professor. At UCLA she participated actively in service culminating with her election as department Vice Chair and running the Graduate Program. At Duke she has continued to be heavily involved in service at the department, school, and university level. In only 5 years, she has Chaired 6 committees, and participated in at least 6 more, is the direct mentor to two young assistant professors, is the Co-director of the Center for Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering and serves as MPI of the T32 Biotechnology Training grant. Notably she is currently the Chair of the BME department Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Prof. Segura’s research is centered on biomaterials and in engineering biomaterial-soft tissue interactions to promote repair and regeneration. Together with her lab members, she designs new biomaterial interventions that can promote brain plasticity after stroke, promote scarless healing in skin wounds, induce tolerance of transplanted skin, and promote constructive immune responses after biomaterial implantation. Currently, her lab has 12 graduate students, 4 postdoctoral scholars, 2 master students, 1 plastic surgery resident, 16 undergraduate students, one high school student, and one research associate.
Professor Segura has received numerous awards and distinctions during her career, including being named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, receiving the Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, a Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and a National Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association. She was also named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE). Professor Segura has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and reviews and has over 10,000 citations. Her laboratory has been continuously funded since 2008 with several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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