Tag: Reza Mahdavi

Roadmap for animate matter published on Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

The three properties of animacy. The three polar plots sketch our jointly perceived level of development for each principle of animacy (i.e. activity, adaptiveness and autonomy) for each system discussed in this roadmap. The polar coordinate represents the various systems, while the radial coordinate represents the level of development (from low to high) that each system shows in the principle of each polar plot. Ideally, within a generation, all systems will fill these polar plots to show high levels in each of the three attributes of animacy. For now, only biological materials (not represented here) can be considered fully animated. (Image from the manuscript, adapted.)
Roadmap for animate matter
Giorgio Volpe, Nuno A M Araújo, Maria Guix, Mark Miodownik, Nicolas Martin, Laura Alvarez, Juliane Simmchen, Roberto Di Leonardo, Nicola Pellicciotta, Quentin Martinet, Jérémie Palacci, Wai Kit Ng, Dhruv Saxena, Riccardo Sapienza, Sara Nadine, João F Mano, Reza Mahdavi, Caroline Beck Adiels, Joe Forth, Christian Santangelo, Stefano Palagi, Ji Min Seok, Victoria A Webster-Wood, Shuhong Wang, Lining Yao, Amirreza Aghakhani, Thomas Barois, Hamid Kellay, Corentin Coulais, Martin van Hecke, Christopher J Pierce, Tianyu Wang, Baxi Chong, Daniel I Goldman, Andreagiovanni Reina, Vito Trianni, Giovanni Volpe, Richard Beckett, Sean P Nair, Rachel Armstrong
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 37, 333501 (2025)
arXiv: 2407.10623
doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/adebd3

Humanity has long sought inspiration from nature to innovate materials and devices. As science advances, nature-inspired materials are becoming part of our lives. Animate materials, characterized by their activity, adaptability, and autonomy, emulate properties of living systems. While only biological materials fully embody these principles, artificial versions are advancing rapidly, promising transformative impacts in the circular economy, health and climate resilience within a generation. This roadmap presents authoritative perspectives on animate materials across different disciplines and scales, highlighting their interdisciplinary nature and potential applications in diverse fields including nanotechnology, robotics and the built environment. It underscores the need for concerted efforts to address shared challenges such as complexity management, scalability, evolvability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical and environmental considerations. The framework defined by classifying materials based on their level of animacy can guide this emerging field to encourage cooperation and responsible development. By unravelling the mysteries of living matter and leveraging its principles, we can design materials and systems that will transform our world in a more sustainable manner.

An in vivo mimetic liver-lobule-chip (LLoC) for stem cell maturation, and zonation of hepatocyte-like cells on chip published in Lab on a Chip

The image shows a liver-lobule-chip (LLoC) with 21 artificial lobules mimicking liver microarchitecture. Its PDMS design supports diffusion-based perfusion, shear stress, and nutrient gradients and enables iPSC-derived hepatic maturation and spatially organized, zonated function in 3D. (Image by C. Beck Adiels)
An in vivo mimetic liver-lobule-chip (LLoC) for stem cell maturation, and zonation of hepatocyte-like cells on chip
Philip Dalsbecker, Siiri Suominen, Muhammad Asim Faridi, Reza Mahdavi, Julia Johansson, Charlotte Hamngren Blomqvist, Mattias Goksör, Katriina Aalto-Setälä, Leena E. Viiri and Caroline B. Adiels
Lab on a Chip 25, 4328 – 4344 (2025)
doi: 10.1039/D4LC00509K

In vitro cell culture models play a crucial role in preclinical drug discovery. To achieve optimal culturing environments and establish physiologically relevant organ-specific conditions, it is imperative to replicate in vivo scenarios when working with primary or induced pluripotent cell types. However, current approaches to recreating in vivo conditions and generating relevant 3D cell cultures still fall short. In this study, we validate a liver-lobule-chip (LLoC) containing 21 artificial liver lobules, each representing the smallest functional unit of the human liver. The LLoC facilitates diffusion-based perfusion via sinusoid-mimetic structures, providing physiologically relevant shear stress exposure and radial nutrient concentration gradients within each lobule. We demonstrate the feasibility of long term cultures (up to 14 days) of viable and functional HepG2 cells in a 3D discoid tissue structure, serving as initial proof of concept. Thereafter, we successfully differentiate sensitive, human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cells into hepatocyte-like cells over a period of 20 days on-chip, exhibiting advancements in maturity compared to traditional 2D cultures. Further, hepatocyte-like cells cultured in the LLoC exhibit zonated protein expression profiles, indicating the presence of metabolic gradients characteristic of liver lobules. Our results highlight the suitability of the LLoC for long-term discoid tissue cultures, specifically for iPSCs, and their differentiation in a perfused environment. We envision the LLoC as a starting point for more advanced in vitro models, allowing for the combination of multiple liver cell types to create a comprehensive liver model for disease-onchip studies. Ultimately, when combined with stem cell technology, the LLoC offers a promising and robust on-chip liver model that serves as a viable alternative to primary hepatocyte cultures—ideally suited for preclinical drug screening and personalized medicine applications.