Liquid crystal elastomer foams with elastic properties specifically engineered as biodegradable brain tissue scaffolds.

Tissue regeneration requires 3-dimensional (3D) smart materials as scaffolds to promote transport of nutrients. To mimic mechanical properties of extracellular matrices, biocompatible polymers have been widely studied and a diverse range of 3D scaffolds have been produced. We propose the use of responsive polymeric materials to create dynamic substrates for cell culture, which goes beyond designing only a physical static 3D scaffold. Here, we demonstrated that lactone- and lactide-based star block-copolymers (SBCs), where a liquid crystal (LC) moiety has been attached as a side-group, can be crosslinked to obtain Liquid Crystal Elastomers (LCEs) with a porous architecture using a salt-leaching method to promote cell infiltration. The obtained SmA LCE-based fully interconnected-porous foams exhibit a Young modulus of 0.23 ± 0.07 MPa and a biodegradability rate of around 20% after 15 weeks both of which are optimized to mimic native environments. We present cell culture results showing growth and proliferation of neurons on the scaffold after four weeks. This research provides a new platform to analyse LCE scaffold-cell interactions where the presence of liquid crystal moieties promotes cell alignment paving the way for a stimulated brain-like tissue.

Direct fungal fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass into itaconic, fumaric, and malic acids: current and future prospects.

Various economic and environmental sustainability concerns as well as consumer preference for bio-based products from natural sources have paved the way for the development and expansion of biorefining technologies. These involve the conversion of renewable biomass feedstock to fuels and chemicals using biological systems as alternatives to petroleum-based products. Filamentous fungi possess an expansive portfolio of products including the multifunctional organic acids itaconic, fumaric, and malic acids that have wide-ranging current applications and potentially addressable markets as platform chemicals. However, current bioprocessing technologies for the production of these compounds are mostly based on submerged fermentation, which necessitates physicochemical pretreatment and hydrolysis of lignocellulose biomass to soluble fermentable sugars in liquid media. This review will focus on current research work on fungal production of itaconic, fumaric, and malic acids and perspectives on the potential application of solid-state fungal cultivation techniques for the consolidated hydrolysis and organic acid fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass.