Biology subjects

Ding, J. Z.

Publications and source records attributed to Ding, J. Z..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Multi-point convective delivery overcomes mass transport barriers for myocardial therapeutics

Angiogenesis-promoting macromolecules reduce adverse remodeling and preserve cardiac function in rodents following myocardial infarctions, yet repeatedly fail to translate across length scales in humans. Through mass transport studies in human and swine myocardium, we found that dense, anisotropic myocardial fibers limit therapeutic diffusion and convection to millimeter scales for existing approaches including bolus intramyocardial injections, shear-thinning hydrogels, and epicardial patches. Furthermore, distributions are confined to one dimension along fibers. To increase myocardial drug distribution to centimeter length scales in vivo in swine, we engineered a three-dimensional multi-injection drug delivery array. Our device performs up to 40 simultaneous 120 {micro}L injections of functional macromolecules, hydrogels, or mRNA lipid nanoparticles. Injections are precisely placed in relation to fiber alignment, achieving near-complete coverage of the left ventricular myocardium.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2026

Self-severing circuits facilitate passage of ingestible electronic sensor-guided therapeutics

Ingestible electronics enable the tracking and treatment of gastrointestinal and systemic diseases. However, bulky batteries and circuit boards require large capsules that can result in bowel obstruction, a medical emergency. Here, we engineered a 9 x 26 mm electronic pill capable of triggered severing into tiny pieces with sizes clinically proven to reduce obstruction risk. Our capsule enables multicomponent circuit boards to connect with separately encapsulated powering elements via conductive, interlocking connections. Heat induced softening of polyethylene glycol/polycaprolactone channels activates a spring to separate encapsulated components into inert 9 x 15 mm segments, facilitating intestinal passage. Separation triggers included closed-loop sensors and time-delay circuits. In vivo swine studies demonstrate the ability of our capsules to sense luminal oxygen changes via an optoelectronic sensor, locally trigger upadacitinib delivery, and facilitate safe excretion.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2025

An artificial nervous system for communication between wearable and implantable therapeutics

Bioelectronics have transformed our capacity to monitor and treat diseases; however, a lack of micrometer-scale, energy efficient communication options limit these devices from forming integrated networks that enable full-body, sensor driven, physiological control. Inspired by our nervous systems ability to transmit information via ionic conduction, we engineered a Smart Wireless Artificial Nervous System (SWANS) that utilizes the bodys own tissue to transmit signals between wearables and implantables. When SWANS emits signals, it generates voltage gradients throughout the body that selectively turn on implanted transistor switches when exceeding their gate threshold voltages. SWANS implantable communication components maintain syringe-injectable footprints and >15x greater power efficiencies than Bluetooth and Near Field Communication. In vivo studies in rats demonstrate SWANS ability to wirelessly regulate dual hind leg motor control by connecting electronic-skin sensors to implantable neural interfaces via ionic signaling as well as coordinate bioelectronics throughout the epidermal, subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and gastrointestinal spaces.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2021

More than a feeling: scalp EEG and eye correlates of conscious tactile perception

Understanding the neural basis of consciousness is a fundamental goal of neuroscience. Many of the studies tackling this question have focused on conscious perception, but these studies have been largely vision-centric, with very few involving tactile perception. Therefore, we developed a novel tactile threshold perception task, which we used in conjunction with high-density scalp electroencephalography and eye-metric recordings. Participants were delivered threshold-level vibrations to one of the four non-thumb fingers, and were asked to report their perception using a response box. With false discovery rate (FDR) mass univariate analysis procedures, we found significant event-related potentials (ERP) including bilateral N140 and P300 for perceived vibrations; significant bilateral P100 and P300 were found following vibrations that were not perceived. Significant differences between perceived and not perceived trials were found bilaterally in the N140 and P300. Additionally, we found that pupil diameter and blink rate increased and that microsaccade rate decreased following vibrations that were perceived relative to those that were not perceived. While many of the signals are consistent with similar ERP-findings across sensory modalities, our results indicating a significant P300 in not perceived trials raise more questions regarding P300s perceptual meaning. Additionally, our findings support the use of eye metrics as a measure of physiological arousal as pertains to conscious perception, and may represent a novel path toward the creation of tactile no-report tasks in the future. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=81 SRC="FIGDIR/small/466706v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (30K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e4e7fforg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@3b3ed0org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@198d517org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@cddef3_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HighlightsO_LIA novel tactile perceptual threshold task yields robust behavioral results C_LIO_LIEvent-related potentials differ according to perception status C_LIO_LIP300 is observed in both perceived and not perceived trials C_LIO_LIBlink rate, pupil diameter, and microsaccades differ across trial conditions C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Serological and metagenomic interrogation of cerebrospinal fluid implicates enteroviruses in pediatric acute flaccid myelitis

BackgroundSince 2014, the United States has experienced a biennial spike in pediatric acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Epidemiologic evidence suggests non-polio enteroviruses (EVs) are a potential etiology, yet EV RNA is rarely detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and only inconsistently identified from the respiratory tract, serum, or stool.\n\nMethodsWe interrogated CSF from children with AFM (n=42) and pediatric controls with other neurologic diseases (OND) (n=58). Samples were incubated with T7 bacteriophage expressing 481,966 sixty-two amino acid peptides with a fourteen amino acid overlap tiled across all known vertebrate virus and arbovirus genomes, an adaption of the VirScan method. Antibody-bound phage were deep sequenced to quantify enriched peptides with normalized counts expressed as reads per hundred thousand (rpK). EV antibody findings were confirmed with ELISA using whole viral protein 1 (VP1) from contemporary enterovirus (EV) A71 and D68 strains. Separately, metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of CSF RNA, both unbiased and with targeted enrichment for EVs, was performed.\n\nResultsThe most significantly enriched viral family by VirScan of CSF in AFM versus OND controls was Picornaviridae (mean rpK 11,266 versus mean rpK 950, p-adjusted < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test with Bonferroni adjustment). Enriched Picornaviridae peptides belonged almost entirely to the genus Enterovirus. The mean EV VP1 ELISA signal in AFM (mean OD 0.51) was significantly higher than OND controls (mean OD 0.08, p-value < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test). mNGS did not detect additional enterovirus RNA in CSF.\n\nConclusionDespite the rare detection of EV RNA in the CNS of patients with AFM, a pan-viral serologic assay identified high levels of CSF EV antibodies in AFM CSF compared to CSF from OND controls. These results provide further evidence for a causal role of non-polio enteroviruses in AFM.

microbiology↗