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The aim of this thesis was the preparation of a biomaterial ink for the fabrication of chemically crosslinked hydrogel scaffolds with low micron sized features using melt electrowriting (MEW). By developing a functional polymeric material based on 2-alkyl-2-oxazine (Ozi) and 2-alkyl-2-oxazoline (Ox) homo- and copolymers in combination with Diels-Alder (DA)-based dynamic covalent chemistry, it was possible to achieve this goal. This marks an important step for the additive manufacturing technique melt electrowriting (MEW), as soft and hydrophilic structures become available for the first time. The use of dynamic covalent chemistry is a very elegant and efficient method for consolidating covalent crosslinking with melt processing. It was shown that the high chemical versatility of the Ox and Ozi chemistry offers great potential to control the processing parameters. The established platform offers straight forward potential for modification with biological cues and fluorescent markers. This is essential for advanced biological applications. The physical properties of the material are readily controlled and the potential for 4D-printing was highlighted as well. The developed hydrogel architectures are excellent candidates for 3D cell culture applications. In particular, the low internal strength of some of the scaffolds in combination with the tendency of such constructs to collapse into thin strings could be interesting for the cultivation of muscle or nerve cells. In this context it was also possible to show that MEW printed hydrogel scaffolds can withstand the aspiration and ejection through a cannula. This allows the application as scaffolds for the minimally invasive delivery of implants or functional tissue equivalent structures to various locations in the human body.
This thesis describes the synthesis and reactivity of NHC-stabilized Lewis-acid/Lewis-base adducts of alanes and gallanes (NHC = Me2ImMe, iPr2Im, iPr2ImMe, Dipp2Im, Dipp2ImH). As this field of research has developed tremendously, especially in the last five years, the first chapter provides an overview of the current state of knowledge.
The influence of electronegative π-donor-substituents on the stability of the NHC alane adducts is examined in chapter 2. For this purpose, the carbene stabilized alanes (NHC)∙AlH3 (NHC = iPr2Im, Dipp2Im) were reacted with secondary amines of different steric demand and with phenols. The π-donor substituents saturate the Lewis acidic aluminium center and coordination of a second NHC-ligand was not observed. The strongly electronegative N and O substituents increase the Lewis acidity of the aluminium atom, which leads to stronger Al-CNHC as well as Al-H bonds, which inhibits the insertion of the carbene into the Al-H bond.
In Chapter 3 the development of the synthesis and reactivity of carbene-stabilized gallanes is presented. The synthesis of NHC gallane adducts (NHC)∙GaH3, (NHC)∙GaH2Cl and (NHC)∙GaHCl2 and their reactivity towards NHCs and cAACMe were investigated in detail. The reaction of the mono- and dichlorogallanes (NHC)∙GaH2Cl and (NHC)∙GaHCl2 (NHC = iPr2ImMe, Dipp2Im) with cAACMe led to insertion of the cAACMe with formation of chiral and achiral compounds depending on the sterically demand of the used NHC. Furthermore, the formation of bis-alkylgallanes was observed for the insertion of two equivalents of cAACMe with release of the NHC ligand.
Chapter 4 describes investigations concerning the synthesis and reactivity of NHC-stabilized iodoalanes and iodogallanes, which are suitable for the formation of cationic aluminium and gallium dihydrides. The reaction of (NHC)∙EH2I (E = Al, Ga) stabilized by the sterically less demanding NHCs (NHC = Me2ImMe, iPr2Im, iPr2ImMe) with an additional equivalent of the NHC led to the formation of the cationic bis-NHC aluminium and gallium dihydrides [(NHC)2∙AlH2]+I- and [(NHC)2∙GaH2]+I-. Furthermore, the influence of the steric demand of the used NHC was investigated. The adduct (Dipp2Im)∙GaH2I was reacted with an additional equivalent of Dipp2Im. Due to the bulk of the NHC used, rearrangement of one of the NHC ligands from normal to abnormal coordination occurred and the cationic gallium dihydride [(Dipp2Im)∙GaH2(aDipp2Im)] was isolated.
Chapter 5 of this thesis reports investigations concerning the reduction of cyclopentadienyl-substituted alanes and gallanes with singlet carbenes. NHC stabilized pentamethylcyclopentadienyl aluminium and gallium dihydrides (NHC)∙Cp*MH2 (E = Al, Ga) were prepared by the reaction of (AlH2Cp*)3 with the corresponding NHCs or by the salt elimination of (NHC)∙GaH2I with KCp*. The gallane adducts decompose at higher temperatures with reductive elimination of Cp*H and formation of Cp*GaI. . The reductive elimination is preferred for sterically demanding NHCs (Dipp2Im > iPr2ImMe > Me2ImMe). In addition, NHC ring expansion of the backbone saturated carbene Dipp2ImH was observed for the reaction of the NHC with (AlH2Cp*)3, which led to (RER-Dipp2ImHH2)AlCp*. Furthermore, the reactivity of the adducts (NHC)∙Cp*EH2 (E = Al, Ga) towards cAACMe was investigated. The reaction of the alane adducts stabilized by the sterically more demanding NHCs iPr2ImMe and Dipp2Im afforded the exceptionally stable insertion product (cAACMeH)Cp*AlH V-10 with liberation of the NHC. The reaction of the gallium hydrides (NHC)∙Cp*GaH2 with cAACMe led to the reductive elimination of cAACMeH2 and formation of Cp*GaI.
A variety of neutral and cationic carbene-stabilized alanes and gallanes are presented in this work. The introduction of electronegative π-donor substituents (Cl-, I-, OR-, NR2-) and the investigations on the thermal stability of these compounds led to the conclusion that the stability of alanes and gallanes increased significantly by such a substitution. Investigations on the reactivity of the NHC adducts towards cAACMe resulted in various insertion products of the carbene into the Al-H or Ga-H bonds and the first cAACMe stabilized dichlorogallane was isolated. Furthermore, a first proof was provided that carbenes can be used specifically for the (formal) reduction of group 13 hydrides of the higher homologues. Thus, the synthesis of Cp*GaI from the reaction of (NHC)∙Cp*GaH2 with cAACMe was developed. In the future, this reaction pathway could be of interest for the preparation of other low-valent compounds of aluminium and gallium.
The Myb-MuvB (MMB) complex plays an essential role in the time-dependent transcriptional activation of mitotic genes. Recently, our laboratory identified a novel crosstalk between the MMB-complex and YAP, the transcriptional coactivator of the Hippo pathway, to coregulate a subset of mitotic genes (Pattschull et al., 2019). Several genetic studies have shown that the Hippo-YAP pathway is essential to drive cardiomyocyte proliferation during cardiac development (von Gise et al., 2012; Heallen et al., 2011; Xin et al., 2011). However, the exact mechanisms of how YAP activates proliferation of cardiomyocytes is not known. This doctoral thesis addresses the physiological role of the MMB-Hippo crosstalk within the heart and characterizes the YAP-B-MYB interaction with the overall aim to identify a potent inhibitor of YAP.
The results reported in this thesis indicate that complete loss of the MMB scaffold protein LIN9 in heart progenitor cells results in thinning of ventricular walls, reduced cardiomyocyte proliferation and early embryonic lethality. Moreover, genetic experiments using mice deficient in SAV1, a core component of the Hippo pathway, and LIN9-deficient mice revealed that the correct function of the MMB complex is critical for proliferation of cardiomyocytes due to Hippo-deficiency. Whole genome transcriptome profiling as well as genome wide binding studies identified a subset of Hippo-regulated cell cycle genes as direct targets of MMB. By proximity ligation assay (PLA), YAP and B-MYB were discovered to interact in embryonal cardiomyocytes. Biochemical approaches, such as co-immunoprecipitation assays, GST-pulldown assays, and µSPOT-based peptide arrays were employed to characterize the YAP-B-MYB interaction. Here, a PY motif within the N-terminus of B-MYB was found to directly interact with the YAP WW-domains. Consequently, the YAP WW-domains were important for the ability of YAP to drive proliferation in cardiomyocytes and to activate MMB target genes in differentiated C2C12 cells. The biochemical information obtained from the interaction studies was utilized to develop a novel competitive inhibitor of YAP called MY-COMP (Myb-YAP competition). In MY-COMP, the protein fragment of B-MYB containing the YAP binding domain is fused to a nuclear localization signal. Co-immunoprecipitation studies as well as PLA revealed that the YAP-B-MYB interaction is robustly blocked by expression of MY-COMP. Adenoviral overexpression of MY-COMP in embryonal cardiomyocytes suppressed entry into mitosis and blocked the pro-proliferative function of YAP. Strikingly, characterization of the cellular phenotype showed that ectopic expression of MY-COMP led to growth defects, nuclear abnormalities and polyploidization in HeLa cells.
Taken together, the results of this thesis reveal the mechanism of the crosstalk between the Hippo signaling pathway and the MMB complex in the heart and form the basis for interference with the oncogenic activity of the Hippo coactivator YAP.
Obesity-induced diabetes affects over 400 million people worldwide. Obesity is a complex metabolic disease and is associated with several co-morbidities, all of which negatively affect the individual’s quality of life. It is commonly considered that obesity is a result of a positive energy misbalance, as increased food intake and lower expenditure eventually lead to the development of this disease. Moreover, the pathology of obesity is attributed to several genetic and epigenetic factors that put an individual at high risk compared to another. Adipose tissue is the main site of the organism’s energy storage. During the time when the nutrients are available in excess, adipocytes acquire triglycerides, which are released during the time of food deprivation in the process of lipolysis (free fatty acids and glycerol released from adipocytes). Uncontrolled lipolysis is the consequent event that contributes to the development of diabetes and paradoxically obesity. To identify the genetic factors aiming for future therapeutic avenues targeting this pathway, we performed a high-throughput screen and identified the Extracellular-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3) as a hit. We demonstrate that β-adrenergic stimulation stabilizes ERK3 leading to the formation of a complex with the co-factor MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 5 (MK5) thereby driving lipolysis. Mechanistically, we identify a downstream target of the ERK3/MK5 pathway, the transcription factor FOXO1, which promotes the expression of the major lipolytic enzyme ATGL. Finally, we provide evidence that targeted deletion of ERK3 in mouse adipocytes inhibits lipolysis, but elevates energy dissipation, promoting lean phenotype and ameliorating diabetes. Moreover, we shed the light on our pharmacological approach in targeting ERK3/MK5 pathways using MK5 specific inhibitor. Already after 1 week of administering the inhibitor, mice showed signs of improvement of their metabolic fitness as showed here by a reduction in induced lipolysis and the elevation in the expression of thermogenic genes. Taken together, our data suggest that targeting the ERK3/MK5 pathway, a previously unrecognized signaling axis in adipose tissue, could be an attractive target for future therapies aiming to combat obesity-induced diabetes.
This thesis is devoted to a theoretical and numerical investigation of methods to solve open-loop non zero-sum differential Nash games. These problems arise in many applications, e.g., biology, economics, physics, where competition between different agents appears. In this case, the goal of each agent is in contrast with those of the others, and a competition game can be interpreted as a coupled optimization problem for which, in general, an optimal solution does not exist. In fact, an optimal strategy for one player may be unsatisfactory for the others. For this reason, a solution of a game is sought as an equilibrium and among the solutions concepts proposed in the literature, that of Nash equilibrium (NE) is the focus of this thesis. The building blocks of the resulting differential Nash games are a dynamical model with different control functions associated with different players that pursue non-cooperative objectives. In particular, the aim of this thesis is on differential models having linear or bilinear state-strategy structures. In this framework, in the first chapter, some well-known results are recalled, especially for non-cooperative linear-quadratic differential Nash games. Then, a bilinear Nash game is formulated and analysed. The main achievement in this chapter is Theorem 1.4.2 concerning existence of Nash equilibria for non-cooperative differential bilinear games. This result is obtained assuming a sufficiently small time horizon T, and an estimate of T is provided in Lemma 1.4.8 using specific properties of the regularized Nikaido-Isoda function. In Chapter 2, in order to solve a bilinear Nash game, a semi-smooth Newton (SSN) scheme combined with a relaxation method is investigated, where the choice of a SSN scheme is motivated by the presence of constraints on the players’ actions that make the problem non-smooth. The resulting method is proved to be locally convergent in Theorem 2.1, and an estimate on the relaxation parameter is also obtained that relates the relaxation factor to the time horizon of a Nash equilibrium and to the other parameters of the game. For the bilinear Nash game, a Nash bargaining problem is also introduced and discussed, aiming at determining an improvement of all players’ objectives with respect to the Nash equilibrium. A characterization of a bargaining solution is given in Theorem 2.2.1 and a numerical scheme based on this result is presented that allows to compute this solution on the Pareto frontier. Results of numerical experiments based on a quantum model of two spin-particles and on a population dynamics model with two competing species are presented that successfully validate the proposed algorithms. In Chapter 3 a functional formulation of the classical homicidal chauffeur (HC) Nash game is introduced and a new numerical framework for its solution in a time-optimal formulation is discussed. This methodology combines a Hamiltonian based scheme, with proximal penalty to determine the time horizon where the game takes place, with a Lagrangian optimal control approach and relaxation to solve the Nash game at a fixed end-time. The resulting numerical optimization scheme has a bilevel structure, which aims at decoupling the computation of the end-time from the solution of the pursuit-evader game. Several numerical experiments are performed to show the ability of the proposed algorithm to solve the HC game. Focusing on the case where a collision may occur, the time for this event is determined. The last part of this thesis deals with the analysis of a novel sequential quadratic Hamiltonian (SQH) scheme for solving open-loop differential Nash games. This method is formulated in the framework of Pontryagin’s maximum principle and represents an efficient and robust extension of the successive approximations strategy in the realm of Nash games. In the SQH method, the Hamilton-Pontryagin functions are augmented by a quadratic penalty term and the Nikaido-Isoda function is used as a selection criterion. Based on this fact, the key idea of this SQH scheme is that the PMP characterization of Nash games leads to a finite-dimensional Nash game for any fixed time. A class of problems for which this finite-dimensional game admits a unique solution is identified and for this class of games theoretical results are presented that prove the well-posedness of the proposed scheme. In particular, Proposition 4.2.1 is proved to show that the selection criterion on the Nikaido-Isoda function is fulfilled. A comparison of the computational performances of the SQH scheme and the SSN-relaxation method previously discussed is shown. Applications to linear-quadratic Nash games and variants with control constraints, weighted L1 costs of the players’ actions and tracking objectives are presented that corroborate the theoretical statements.
To ask students what a species is always has something rhetorical about it. Too quickly comes the rote answer, often learned by heart without ever thinking about it: “A species is a reproductive community of populations (reproductively isolated from others), which occupies a specific niche in nature” (Mayr 1982). However, do two people look alike because they are twins or are they twins because they look alike? “Two organisms do not belong to the same species because they mate and reproduce, but they only are able to do so because they belong to the same species” (Mahner and Bunge 1997). Unfortunately, most biology (pre-university) teachers have no opinion on whether species are real or conceptual, simply because they have never been taught the question themselves, but rather one answer they still pass on to their students today, learned by heart without ever thinking about it. Species are either real or conceptual and, in my opinion, it is this “or” that we should teach about. Only then can we discuss those fundamental questions such as who or what is selected, who or what evolves and, finally, what is biodiversity and phylogenetics all about? Individuals related to each other by the tree of life.
Cabozantinib (CAB) is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of several cancer types. Enterohepatic recirculation (EHC) of the substance is assumed but has not been further investigated yet. CAB is mainly metabolized via CYP3A4 and is susceptible for drug–drug interactions (DDI). The goal of this work was to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to investigate EHC, to simulate DDI with Rifampin and to simulate subjects with hepatic impairment. The model was established using PK-Sim® and six human clinical studies. The inclusion of an EHC process into the model led to the most accurate description of the pharmacokinetic behavior of CAB. The model was able to predict plasma concentrations with low bias and good precision. Ninety-seven percent of all simulated plasma concentrations fell within 2-fold of the corresponding concentration observed. Maximum plasma concentration (C\(_{max}\)) and area under the curve (AUC) were predicted correctly (predicted/observed ratio of 0.9–1.2 for AUC and 0.8–1.1 for C\(_{max}\)). DDI with Rifampin led to a reduction in predicted AUC by 77%. Several physiological parameters were adapted to simulate hepatic impairment correctly. This is the first CAB model used to simulate DDI with Rifampin and hepatic impairment including EHC, which can serve as a starting point for further simulations with regard to special populations.
Biofabrication, including printing technologies, has emerged as a powerful approach to the design of disease models, such as in cancer research. In breast cancer, adipose tissue has been acknowledged as an important part of the tumor microenvironment favoring tumor progression. Therefore, in this study, a 3D-printed breast cancer model for facilitating investigations into cancer cell-adipocyte interaction was developed. First, we focused on the printability of human adipose-derived stromal cell (ASC) spheroids in an extrusion-based bioprinting setup and the adipogenic differentiation within printed spheroids into adipose microtissues. The printing process was optimized in terms of spheroid viability and homogeneous spheroid distribution in a hyaluronic acid-based bioink. Adipogenic differentiation after printing was demonstrated by lipid accumulation, expression of adipogenic marker genes, and an adipogenic ECM profile. Subsequently, a breast cancer cell (MDA-MB-231) compartment was printed onto the adipose tissue constructs. After nine days of co-culture, we observed a cancer cell-induced reduction of the lipid content and a remodeling of the ECM within the adipose tissues, with increased fibronectin, collagen I and collagen VI expression. Together, our data demonstrate that 3D-printed breast cancer-adipose tissue models can recapitulate important aspects of the complex cell–cell and cell–matrix interplay within the tumor-stroma microenvironment
Megakaryocytes (MKs) release platelets into the lumen of bone marrow (BM) sinusoids while remaining to reside within the BM. The morphogenetic events of this complex process are still not fully understood. We combined confocal laser scanning microscopy with transmission and serial block-face scanning electron microscopy followed by 3D-reconstruction on mouse BM tissue sections. These analyses revealed that MKs in close vicinity to BM sinusoid (BMS) wall first induce the lateral retraction of CXCL12-abundant reticular (CAR) cells (CAR), followed by basal lamina (BL) degradation enabling direct MK-sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs) interaction. Subsequently, an endothelial engulfment starts that contains a large MK protrusion. Then, MK protrusions penetrate the SEC, transmigrate into the BMS lumen and form proplatelets that are in direct contact to the SEC surface. Furthermore, such processes are induced on several sites, as observed by 3D reconstructions. Our data demonstrate that MKs in interaction with CAR-cells actively induce BMS wall alterations, including CAR-cell retraction, BL degradation, and SEC engulfment containing a large MK protrusion. This results in SEC penetration enabling the migration of MK protrusion into the BMS lumen where proplatelets that are adherent to the luminal SEC surface are formed and contribute to platelet release into the blood circulation.
TERRAINS OF CONSCIOUSNESS emerges from an Indian-German-Swiss research collaboration. The book makes a case for a phenomenology of globalization that pays attention to locally situated socioeconomic terrains, everyday practices, and cultures of knowledge. This is exemplified in relation to three topics:
- the tension between ‘terrain’ and ‘territory’ in Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’ as a pioneering work of the globalist mentality (chapter 1)
- the relationship between established conceptions of feminism and the concrete struggles of women in India since the 19th century (chapter 2)
- the exploration of urban space and urban life in writings on India’s capital – from Ahmed Ali to Arundhati Roy (chapter 3).