Elasticizing tissues for reversible shape transformation and accelerated molecular labeling

Taeyun Ku; Webster Guan; Nicholas B Evans; Chang Ho Sohn; Alexandre Albanese; Joon-Goon Kim; Matthew P Frosch; Kwanghun Chung

doi:10.1038/s41592-020-0823-y

Elasticizing tissues for reversible shape transformation and accelerated molecular labeling

Nat Methods. 2020 Jun;17(6):609-613. doi: 10.1038/s41592-020-0823-y. Epub 2020 May 18.

Authors

Taeyun Ku^{1

2

3}, Webster Guan⁴, Nicholas B Evans^{1

2}, Chang Ho Sohn^{1

2}, Alexandre Albanese¹, Joon-Goon Kim⁵, Matthew P Frosch⁶, Kwanghun Chung^{7

8

9

10

11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.
² Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³ Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁵ Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
⁶ C.S. Kubik Laboratory for Neuropathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA. khchung@mit.edu.
⁸ Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. khchung@mit.edu.
⁹ Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. khchung@mit.edu.
¹⁰ Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. khchung@mit.edu.
¹¹ Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. khchung@mit.edu.
¹² Center for Nanomedicine, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea. khchung@mit.edu.
¹³ Nano Biomedical Engineering (Nano BME) Graduate Program, Yonsei-IBS Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. khchung@mit.edu.

Abstract

We developed entangled link-augmented stretchable tissue-hydrogel (ELAST), a technology that transforms tissues into elastic hydrogels to enhance macromolecular accessibility and mechanical stability simultaneously. ELASTicized tissues are highly stretchable and compressible, which enables reversible shape transformation and faster delivery of probes into intact tissue specimens via mechanical thinning. This universal platform may facilitate rapid and scalable molecular phenotyping of large-scale biological systems, such as human organs.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Acrylamide / chemistry
Animals
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biomimetic Materials / chemistry
Bioprinting
Cerebral Cortex / chemistry
Cross-Linking Reagents / chemistry
Elastic Modulus
Hippocampus / chemistry
Humans
Hydrogels / chemistry*
Materials Testing
Mice
Staining and Labeling / methods*
Stress, Mechanical
Tensile Strength
Tissue Engineering / methods*

Substances

Cross-Linking Reagents
Hydrogels
Acrylamide

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding