Matching TGF‐β1 Activation With Stress‐Responsive Charge‐Reversal Hydrogel Microspheres for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis
Feng Lin, Yiwen Xu, Lei Xiang, Yueliang Zhu, Yihan Li, Yaping Zhuang, Zengjie Zhang, Jiayu Chen, Heemin Kang, Ning Zhang, Xiaohua Yu, Wenguo Cui · 2026
Read Matching TGF‐β1 Activation With Stress‐Responsive Charge‐Reversal Hydrogel Microspheres for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis by Feng Lin, Yiwen Xu, Lei Xiang, Yueliang Zhu, Yihan Li, Yaping Zhuang, Zengjie Zhang, Jiayu Chen, Heemin Kang, Ning Zhang, Xiaohua Yu, Wenguo Cui (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13394782.txt.
Description
Lin and team build, in 2026, tiny hydrogel beads that respond to stress inside arthritic joints to control TGF-beta1, a growth factor whose abnormal activation harms cartilage in osteoarthritis. Healthy joint tissue needs this factor, so blocking it everywhere causes harm. Their beads carry weak disulfide bonds that snap under stress. That flips the charge of attached nanoparticles from negative to positive, exactly where overload switches on the growth factor.
In tests, the stress-matched system improved repair of worn cartilage lesions by 41.96 percent compared with standard beads that release their payload evenly. Just as important, its impact on healthy tissue fell by 96.89 percent versus the standard design. Because stressed regions got stronger control while quiet regions were largely left alone, the approach worked efficiently with little side harm. The authors frame the design as a model for materials that match a tissue's diseased setting.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Feng Lin, Yiwen Xu, Lei Xiang, Yueliang Zhu, Yihan Li, Yaping Zhuang, Zengjie Zhang, Jiayu Chen, Heemin Kang, Ning Zhang, Xiaohua Yu, Wenguo Cui |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 65 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |