BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:MEMS Seminar: Acoustic traveling wave induced shear torsion ( A-TWIST) platform in biomimetic hydrogels to promote endothelial cell vasc ularization X-WR-TIMEZONE:Central Time (US & Canada) BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261005T171909Z UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_53868589944539 DTSTART:20260917T193000Z DTEND:20260917T203000Z DESCRIPTION:Joseph Rich\, PhD\, Brigham Young University\n\nAbstract: Innov ations that deliver precise and tunable physical forces on hydrogels are o f great interest for generating and manipulating biomimetic cellular const ructs\, including mechanosensitive cell models (e.g.\, endothelial cells\, immune cells\, and stem cells). This scalable innovation is necessary\, f rom the cellular to tissue level\, for advancing research into the fundame ntal biology of immune cell activation for immunotherapies or for guiding stem cell fate for tissue engineering-derived therapies. Various physical- force-based methods are currently under investigation for enabling these a ctive biomaterials. These methods employ fluidic\, tensile\, viscoelastic\ , electromagnetic\, optical\, thermal\, and acoustic forces. However\, pre vious in vitro physical material deformation models have been limited by t he lack of precise control of the resulting 3D distribution of forces or t he absence of a biologically relevant scaffolding for scaling to relevant biomimetic tissue engineered models. \n\n \n\nIn this study\, we present t he development of an acoustic traveling wave induced shear torsion (A-TWIS T) platform to precisely control the 3D deformation distribution of a biom imetic hydrogel. We quantified and characterized\, for the first time\, th e macromaterial shear stress response of a hydrogel to the applied surface acoustic waves (SAWs) of the A-TWIST platform via rheometry. We then inve stigated how different hydrogel properties\, including density and crossli nking\, affected the SAW shear response. Next\, we numerically simulated a nd experimentally verified the 2D and 3D deformation distribution induced by A-TWIST. Finally\, we employed A-TWIST to strain a biomimetic hydrogel loaded with endothelial colony forming cells (ECFC) to demonstrate the bio compatible nature of A-TWIST to activate mechanosensitive cell models. \n\ nWe found that with A-TWIST we could simulate and demonstrate controlled 3 D deformation of biomimetic hydrogels. We also found that the different ma terial properties of the hydrogel\, density and crosslinking density\, can also tune the desired shear stress response of the biomimetic matrix. Fin ally\, we demonstrated that a 30% enhancement of volume of vascularization of ECFCs is achieved with tuned strain from A-TWIST. Overall\, these resu lts demonstrate a rigorous characterization and a novel application of aco ustic forces for the precise and biocompatible 3D deformation of a biomate rial loaded with mechanosensitive cells and the resulting enhancement in t issue-level vascularization via A-TWIST. We anticipate future applications of this work to investigate custom deformation distributions and the impa ct of these extracellular strains on cellular pathways effecting their gro wth and organization. This will enable precisely engineered biological fun ctions with other mechanosensitive cell models for unique applications in the field of biomedical engineering\, tissue engineering\, mechanobiology\ , and immunology. \n\nThis work was presented at BMES 2025\, will be prese nted at MicroTAS 2026\, and is currently under review in Nature Communicat ions1. GEO:38.648882;-90.302207 LOCATION:Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Hall SUMMARY:MEMS Seminar: Acoustic traveling wave induced shear torsion (A-TWI ST) platform in biomimetic hydrogels to promote endothelial cell vasculari zation URL;VALUE=URI:https://happenings.washu.edu/event/mems-seminar-acoustic-trav eling-wave-induced-shear-torsion-a-twist-platform-in-biomimetic-hydrogels- to-promote-endothelial-cell-vascularization CATEGORIES:Seminar/Colloquia END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR