Min Zhang

Publications (3)26.73 Total impact

• Article: Facile Synthesis of Biomimetic Honeycomb Material with Biological Functionality.

  Jingyun Ma, Yu Sanna Hui, Min Zhang, Yue Yu, Weijia Wen, Jianhua Qin
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  ABSTRACT: A microfluidic approach to a honeycomb-structure material based on the synergistic effects of polymer rapid precipitation, double emulsion templating, and internal effervescent salt decomposition is reported. The delicate honeycomb structure exhibits unique characteristics with an external nanopore membrane and internal multiple cavities. The biological functionality of the artificial structure is explored to serve as microcarriers for cell culture and drug release, indicating their attractive properties for potential biomedical applications.
  Small 10/2012; · 8.35 Impact Factor
• Article: Probing the role of mesenchymal stem cells in salivary gland cancer on biomimetic microdevices.

  Huipeng Ma, Min Zhang, Jianhua Qin
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  ABSTRACT: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the progenitors of stromal cells, which have been found to interact with cancer cells and represent an important target for cancer therapies. Salivary gland cancer is an aggressive malignant epithelial tumor and can easily disseminate to distant sites in vivo. In this work, we probed the role of MSCs in salivary gland cancer in an in vivo like tumor microenvironment by using a series of functional microfluidic devices for 2D and 3D assays. The results demonstrated that MSCs could be recruited by salivary gland cancer cells (ACC-M) and this effect was potentially mediated by TGF-β secreted by cancer cells. In addition, MSCs exhibited the ability to squeeze into ACC-M spheroids by dispersing the cell-cell connection and reducing the expression of E-cadherin in cancer cells. In particular, MSCs exhibited the ability to enhance the invasion of salivary cancer under a chemokine CXCL12 gradient, indicating the involvement of a CXCL12-CXCR4 pathway and the tumor-promoting properties of MSCs in cancer progression. This study recreated an in vivo-like tumor microenvironment by constructing a series of functional microdevices and explored the role of MSCs in ACC invasion for the first time. It provides a unique platform to open up new options to target stromal cells for cancer therapy and also analyzed the potential risk of using MSCs as drug delivery carriers for therapeutic purposes in carcinoma treatment.
  Integrative Biology 04/2012; 4(5):522-30. · 4.51 Impact Factor
• Article: Simple localization of nanofiber scaffolds via SU-8 photoresist and their use for parallel 3D cellular assays.

  Lei Jiang, Min Zhang, Jiaxing Li, Weijia Wen, Jianhua Qin
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  ABSTRACT: A simple, new approach to localizing electrospun nanofiber scaffolds simply by direct writing of SU-8 photoresist followed by UV polymerization is presented. This method allows 3D cell culture arrays to be produced and it can be integrated with microfluidic devices easily to enable low-cost high-throughput cellular assays within an addressable 3D environment, which is attractive for use in drug screening, stem cell research, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.
  Advanced Materials 03/2012; 24(16):2191-5. · 13.88 Impact Factor