Advancing biologically driven soft robotics and actuators will involve employing different scaffold geometries and cellular constructs to enable a controllable emergence for increased production of force. By using hydrogel scaffolds and muscle tissue, soft biological robotic actuators that are capable of motility have been successfully engineered with varying morphologies. Having the flexibility of altering geometry while ensuring tissue viability can enable advancing functional output from these machines through the implementation of new construction concepts and fabrication approaches. This study reports a forward engineering approach to computationally design the next generation of biological machines via direct numerical simulations. This was subsequently followed by fabrication and characterization of high force producing biological machines. These biological machines show millinewton forces capable of driving locomotion at speeds above 0.5 mm s −1 . It is important to note that these results are predicted by computational simulations, ultimately showing excellent agreement of the predictive models and experimental results, further providing the ability to forward design future generations of these biological machines. This study aims to develop the building blocks and modular technologies capable of scaling force and complexity of these devices for applications toward solving real world problems in medicine, environment, and manufacturing.

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Increased expression of metalloprotease-disintegrin ADAM12 is a hallmark of several pathological conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and certain inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system or the muscoskeletal system. We show that transforming growth factor ␤1 (TGF␤1) is a potent inducer of ADAM12 mRNA and protein in mouse fibroblasts and in mouse and human mammary epithelial cells. Induction of ADAM12 is detected within 2 h of treatment with TGF␤1, is Smad2/Smad3-dependent, and is a result of derepression of the ADAM12, a member of the metalloprotease-disintegrin family of proteins, has been implicated in the progression of cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and neurological disorders (1). The ADAM12 gene is frequently mutated in human breast cancers (2, 3), and cancer-associated mutations cause mislocalization of the ADAM12 protein in cells and alter its function (4). Missense single nuclear polymorphism in the ADAM12 gene shows strong association with osteoarthritis (5, 6). In addition to changes in its amino acid sequence, expression levels of ADAM12 are significantly increased in many pathological states. For example, ADAM12 expression levels are 20 -30-fold higher in human breast tumors than in normal mammary epithelium (7-12). ADAM12 expression is also markedly up-regulated in cancers of the liver, lung, stomach, colon, prostate, bladder, and in glioblastoma (13-18). Increased ADAM12 expression levels are found in the cardiac tissue of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (19) and in mice with angiotensin II-induced hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy (20,21). During inflammatory responses and aseptic osteolysis associated with loosened hip replacement implants, ADAM12 is up-regulated in the interface tissue around loosening implants (22). In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis, ADAM12 level is markedly increased in the T cells that infiltrate spinal cords (23).The mechanisms regulating ADAM12 expression, in particular those that may be responsible for altered levels of ADAM12 in various pathological states, are poorly understood. Previous studies employing hepatic stellate cells, a mesenchymal cell type in hepatic parenchyma, have indicated that ADAM12 expression is induced by transforming growth factor ␤ (TGF␤) 2 (13, 24). The TGF␤ signaling pathway is initiated when one of the family members, e.g. TGF␤1, -␤2, or -␤3, binds to a complex of TGF␤ type I and type II serine/threonine kinase receptors (T␤RI and T␤RII, respectively) and induces phosphorylation and activation of T␤RI by T␤RII. T␤RI then phosphorylates receptor Smads (R-Smads), Smad2 and Smad3. Phosphorylated Smad2/3 associate with the common partner Smad4 and translocate to the nucleus, where they regulate transcription of target genes (25,26). In addition, receptor activation in certain cell types leads to Smad-independent responses via the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), phosphoinositide 3-kinase, and Rho family memb...

Metalloprotease-disintegrin ADAM12 is overexpressed and frequently mutated in breast cancer. We report here that ADAM12 expression in cultured mammalian cells is up-regulated by Notch signals. Expression of a constitutively active form of Notch1 in murine fibroblasts, myoblasts, or mammary epithelial cells or activation of the endogenous Notch signaling by co-culture with ligand-expressing cells increases ADAM12 protein and mRNA levels. Up-regulation of ADAM12 expression by Notch requires new transcription, is activated in a CSL-dependent manner, and is abolished upon inhibition of IB kinase. Expression of a constitutively active Notch1 in NIH3T3 cells increases the stability of Adam12 mRNA. We further show that the microRNA-29 family, which has a predicted conserved site in the 3-untranslated region of mouse Adam12, plays a critical role in mediating the stimulatory effect of Notch on ADAM12 expression. In human cells, Notch up-regulates the expression of the long form, but not the short form, of ADAM12 containing a divergent 3-untranslated mRNA region. These studies uncover a novel paradigm in Notch signaling and establish Adam12 as a Notch-related gene.

Integration of conductive electrodes with 3D tissue models can have great potential for applications in bioelectronics, drug screening, and implantable devices. As conventional electrodes cannot be easily integrated on 3D, polymeric, and biocompatible substrates, alternatives are highly desirable. Graphene offers significant advantages over conventional electrodes due to its mechanical flexibility and robustness, biocompatibility, and electrical properties. However, the transfer of chemical vapor deposition graphene onto millimeter scale 3D structures is challenging using conventional wet graphene transfer methods with a rigid poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) supportive layer. Here, a biocompatible 3D graphene transfer method onto 3D printed structure using a soft poly ethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) supportive layer to integrate the graphene layer with a 3D engineered ring of skeletal muscle tissue is reported. The use of softer PEGDA supportive layer, with a 105 times lower Young's modulus compared to PMMA, results in conformal integration of the graphene with 3D printed pillars and allows electrical stimulation and actuation of the muscle ring with various applied voltages and frequencies. The graphene integration method can be applied to many 3D tissue models and be used as a platform for electrical interfaces to 3D biological tissue system.