Prof. Dr. Michael Raghunath

Projects

• ADSC isolation by pure mechanical means / Project leader / completed
• Endless spheroid / Project leader / completed
• Transglutaminase crosslinking potential / Project leader / completed
• Bioprinting of vascular structures / Project leader / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Veneruso, V. et al. (2026) 'Engineering a multilayered thin-film agarose-based hydrogel to support adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction therapy in spinal cord injury', International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, (152683). doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2026.152683.
• Wan, H.-Y. et al. (2023) 'Stabilization and improved functionality of three-dimensional perfusable microvascular networks in microfluidic devices under macromolecular crowding', Biomaterials Research, 27(32). doi: 10.1186/s40824-023-00375-w.
• Pinelli, F. et al. (2022) 'Biomaterial-mediated factor delivery for spinal cord injury treatment', Biomedicines, 10(7), p. 1673. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10071673.
• Später, T. et al. (2022) 'Engineering microparticles based on solidified stem cell secretome with an augmented pro-angiogenic factor portfolio for therapeutic angiogenesis', Bioactive Materials, (17), pp. 526–541. doi: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.03.015.
• Vo, A. N. et al. (2022) 'Enhancement of neuroglial extracellular matrix formation and physiological activity of dopaminergic neural cocultures by macromolecular crowding', Cells, 11(14), p. 2131. doi: 10.3390/cells11142131.
• D'Agostino, S. et al. (2022) 'Macromolecular crowding tuned extracellular matrix deposition in a bioprinted human rhabdomyosarcoma model', Bioprinting, 27(e00213). doi: 10.1016/j.bprint.2022.e00213.
• Rampin, A. et al. (2022) 'Allogeneic serum and macromolecular crowding maintain native equine tenocyte function in culture', Cells, 11(9), p. 1562. doi: 10.3390/cells11091562.
• Raghunath, M. and Zeugolis, D. I. (2021) 'Transforming eukaryotic cell culture with macromolecular crowding', Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 46(10), pp. 805–811. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2021.04.006.
• Tsiapalis, D. et al. (2020) 'The synergistic effect of low oxygen tension and macromolecular crowding in the development of extracellular matrix-rich tendon equivalents', Biofabrication, 12(2), p. 25018. doi: 10.1088/1758-5090/ab6412.
• Fernández-Majada, V. et al. (2020) 'Editorial : when the shape does matter : three-dimensional in vitro models of epithelial barriers', Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8(617361). doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.617361.
• Assunção, M. et al. (2020) 'Macromolecular dextran sulfate facilitates extracellular matrix deposition by electrostatic interaction independent from a macromolecular crowding effect', Materials Science and Engineering C: Materials for Biological Applications, 106(110280). doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.110280.
• Ling, L. et al. (2020) 'Enhancing the efficacy of stem cell therapy with glycosaminoglycans', Stem Cell Reports, 14(1), pp. 105–121. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2019.12.003.
• Kopanska, K. S. et al. (2019) 'Advanced in vitro models analysis', ALTEX - Alternatives to Animal Experimentation, 36(1), pp. 144–147. doi: 10.14573/altex.1812131.
• Kremer, A. et al. (2019) 'Ciclopirox olamine promotes the angiogenic response of endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells', Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, 73(2), pp. 317–328. doi: 10.3233/CH-190559.
• Wong, C.-W. et al. (2019) 'In vitro expansion of keratinocytes on human dermal fibroblast-derived matrix retains their stem-like characteristics', Scientific Reports, 9(1), p. 18561. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54793-9.
• Graham, J., Raghunath, M. and Vogel, V. (2019) 'Fibrillar fibronectin plays a key role as nucleator of collagen I polymerization during macromolecular crowding-enhanced matrix assembly', Biomaterials Science, 7(11), pp. 4519–4535. doi: 10.1039/C9BM00868C.
• Lo, L. M., Raghunath, M. and Lee, K. K. H. (2019) 'Growing human dermal fibroblasts as spheroids renders them susceptible for early expression of pluripotency genes', Advanced Biosystems, 3(10). doi: 10.1002/adbi.201900094.
• Gaspar, D. et al. (2019) 'Local pharmacological induction of angiogenesis : drugs for cells and cells as drugs', Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 146, pp. 126–154. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2019.06.002.
• Bertlein, S. et al. (2019) 'Permanent hydrophilization and generic bioactivation of melt electrowritten scaffolds', Advanced Healthcare Materials, 8(7). doi: 10.1002/adhm.201801544.
• Arai, S. et al. (2018) 'RGB‐Color intensiometric indicators to visualize spatiotemporal dynamics of ATP in single cells', Angewandte Chemie: International Edition, 57(34), pp. 10873–10878. doi: 10.1002/anie.201804304.
• Sorushanova, A. et al. (2018) 'The collagen suprafamily : from biosynthesis to advanced biomaterial development', Advanced Materials. doi: 10.1002/adma.201801651.
• Pugliese, E. et al. (2018) 'Wound healing and scar wars', Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 129. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2018.05.010.
• Raghunath, M. et al. (2018) 'TEDD annual meeting with 3D bioprinting workshop', Chimia, 72(1/2), pp. 76–79. doi: 10.2533/chimia.2018.76.
• Coentro, J. Q. et al. (2018) 'Current and upcoming therapies to modulate skin scarring and fibrosis', Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2018.08.009.
• Blocki, A. et al. (2018) 'The controversial origin of pericytes during angiogenesis : implications for cell-based therapeutic angiogenesis and cell-based therapies', Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, 69(1-2), pp. 215–232. doi: 10.3233/CH-189132.
• Patrikoski, M. et al. (2017) 'Effects of macromolecular crowding on human adipose stem cell culture in fetal bovine serum, human serum and defined xeno-free/serum-free conditions', Stem Cells International, 2017(6909163). doi: 10.1155/2017/6909163.
• Samsonraj, R. M. et al. (2017) 'Concise review : multifaceted characterization of human mesenchymal stem cells for use in regenerative medicine', Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 6(12), pp. 2173–2185. doi: 10.1002/sctm.17-0129.
• Kriszt, R. et al. (2017) 'Optical visualisation of thermogenesis in stimulated singlecell brown adipocytes', Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00291-9.
• Hou, Y. et al. (2017) 'Ca2+-associated triphasic pH changes in mitochondria during brown adipocyte activation', Molecular Metabolism, 6(8), pp. 797–808. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2017.05.013.
• Goralczyk, A. et al. (2017) 'TRP channels in brown and white adipogenesis from human progenitors : new therapeutic targets and the caveats associated with the common antibiotic, streptomycin', The FASEB Journal, 31(8). doi: 10.1096/fj.201601081RR.
• H. Lee, M. et al. (2016) 'ECM microenvironment unlocks brown adipogenic potential of adult human bone marrow-derived MSCs', Scientific Reports, 6(21173). doi: 10.1038/srep21173.
• Benny, P. et al. (2016) 'Improving 2D and 3D skin in vitro models, using macromolecular crowding', Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2016(114). doi: 10.3791/53642.
• Lim, N. S. J. et al. (2016) 'Combination of ciclopirox olamine and sphingosine-1-phosphate as granulation enhancer in diabetic wounds', Wound Repair and Regeneration, 24(5), pp. 795–809. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12463.
• Sham, A. et al. (2015) 'Incorporation of a prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor into scaffolds : a strategy for stimulating vascularization', Tissue Engineering - Part A, 21(5-6). doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2014.0077.
• Samsonraj, R. M. et al. (2015) 'Establishing criteria for human mesenchymal stem cell potency', Stem Cells, 33(6), pp. 1878–1891. doi: 10.1002/stem.1982.
• Rashid, R. et al. (2015) 'Macromolecular crowding gives rise to microviscosity, anomalous diffusion and accelerated actin polymerization', Physical Biology, 12(3), p. 034001. doi: 10.1088/1478-3975/12/3/034001.
• Peh, P. et al. (2015) 'Simultaneous delivery of highly diverse bioactive compounds from blend electrospun fibers for skin wound healing', Bioconjugate Chemistry, 26(7), pp. 1348–1358. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00123.
• Dewavrin, J.-Y. et al. (2015) 'Synergistic rate boosting of collagen fibrillogenesis in heterogeneous mixtures of crowding agents', Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 119(12), pp. 4350–4358. doi: 10.1021/jp5077559.
• Kumar, P. et al. (2015) 'Accelerated development of supramolecular corneal stromal-like assemblies from corneal fibroblasts in the presence of macromolecular crowders', Tissue Engineering - Part C: Methods, 21(7). doi: 10.1089/ten.TEC.2014.0387.
• Blocki, A. et al. (2015) 'Sourcing of an alternative pericyte-like cell type from peripheral blood generated with pulsed macromolecular crowding', Molecular Therapy, 23(3), pp. 510–522. doi: 10.1038/mt.2014.232.
• Kumar, P. et al. (2015) 'Macromolecularly crowded in vitro microenvironments accelerate the production of extracellular matrix-rich supramolecular assemblies', Scientific Reports, 5(8729). doi: 10.1038/srep08729.
• Movahednia, M. M. et al. (2015) 'Differential effects of the extracellular microenvironment on human embryonic stem cells differentiation into keratinocytes and their subsequent replicative lifespan', Tissue Engineering - Part A, 21(7-8). doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2014.0551.
• Benny, P. et al. (2015) 'Making more matrix : enhancing the deposition of dermal-epidermal junction components in vitro and accelerating organotypic skin culture development, using macromolecular crowding', Tissue Engineering - Part A, 21(1-2). doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2013.0784.
• Blocki, A. et al. (2015) 'Microcapsules engineered to support mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) survival and proliferation enable long-term retention of MSCs in infarcted myocardium', Biomaterials, 53, pp. 12–24. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2015.02.075.
• Rashid, R. et al. (2014) 'Novel use for polyvinylpyrrolidone as a macromolecular crowder for enhanced extracellular matrix deposition and cell proliferation', Tissue Engineering - Part C: Methods, 20(12). doi: 10.1089/ten.tec.2013.0733.
• Dewavrin, J.-Y. et al. (2014) 'Tuning the architecture of 3D collagen hydrogels by physiological macromolecular crowding', Acta Biomaterialia, 10(10), pp. 4351–4359. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2014.06.006.
• Dewavrin, J.-Y. et al. (2014) 'Tuning the architecture of three-dimensional collagen hydrogels by physiological macromolecular crowding', Acta Biomaterialia, 10(10), pp. 4351–4359. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2014.06.006.
• Rashid, R. et al. (2014) 'Mitochondrial routing of glucose and sucrose polymers after pinocytotic uptake : avenues for drug delivery', Biomacromolecules, 15(6), pp. 2119–2127. doi: 10.1021/bm500243m.
• Satyam, A. et al. (2014) 'Macromolecular crowding meets tissue engineering by self-assembly : a paradigm shift in regenerative medicine', Advanced Materials, 26(19), pp. 3024–3034. doi: 10.1002/adma.201304428.
• Ang, X. M. et al. (2014) 'Macromolecular crowding amplifies adipogenesis of human bone marrow-derived MSCs by enhancing the pro-adipogenic microenvironment', Tissue Engineering - Part A, 20(5-6). doi: 10.1089/ten.tea.2013.0337.
• Lim, S. H. et al. (2013) 'Complementary effects of prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors and sphingosine 1-phosphate on fibroblasts and endothelial cells in driving capillary sprouting', Integrative Biology, 2013(12), pp. 1474–1484. doi: 10.1039/C3IB40082D.
• Tan, A. B.-S. et al. (2013) 'Cellular re- and de-programming by microenvironmental memory: why short TGFβ1 pulses can have long effects', Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair, 6(12). doi: 10.1186/1755-1536-6-12.
• Blocki, A. et al. (2013) 'Not all MSCs can act as pericytes : functional In vitro assays to distinguish pericytes from other mesenchymal stem cells in angiogenesis', Stem Cells and Development, 22(17). doi: 10.1089/scd.2012.0415.
• Samsonraj, R. M. et al. (2013) 'Telomere length analysis of human mesenchymal stem cells by quantitative PCR', Gene, 519(2), pp. 348–355. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.01.039.
• Zeiger, A. S. et al. (2012) 'Macromolecular crowding directs extracellular matrix organization and mesenchymal stem cell behavior', PLOS ONE, 7(5), p. e37904. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037904.
• Satyam, A. et al. (2012) 'In vitro evaluation of Ficoll‐enriched and genipin‐stabilised collagen scaffolds', Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 8(3), pp. 233–241. doi: 10.1002/term.1522.
• Chen, C. et al. (2011) 'Applying macromolecular crowding to enhance extracellular matrix deposition and its remodeling in vitro for tissue engineering and cell-based therapies', Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 63(4-5), pp. 277–290. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2011.03.003.
• Lareu, R. R. et al. (2010) 'Essential modification of the Sircol Collagen Assay for the accurate quantification of collagen content in complex protein solutions', Acta Biomaterialia, 6(8), pp. 3146–3151. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2010.02.004.
• Raghunath, M. et al. (2009) 'Pharmacologically induced angiogenesis in transgenic zebrafish', Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 378(4), pp. 766–771. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2008.11.127.
• Chen, C. Z. C. et al. (2009) 'The Scar‐in‐a‐Jar : studying potential antifibrotic compounds from the epigenetic to extracellular level in a single well', British Journal of Pharmacology, 158(5), pp. 1196–1209. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2009.00387.x.
• Wang, Z. et al. (2009) 'Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid : a potential epigenetic therapeutic agent for lung fibrosis?', The European Respiratory Journal, 34(1), pp. 145–155. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00084808.
• Zeugolis, D. I. et al. (2009) 'An in situ and in vitro investigation for the transglutaminase potential in tissue engineering', Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 92A(4), pp. 1310–1320. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.32383.
• Zeugolis, D. I. et al. (2008) 'Collagen solubility testing, a quality assurance step for reproducible electro-spun nano-fibre fabrication : a technical note', Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 19(10), pp. 1307–1317. doi: 10.1163/156856208786052344.
• Zeugolis, D. I. et al. (2008) 'Electro-spinning of pure collagen fibres : just an expensive way to make gelatin?', Biomaterials, 29(15), pp. 2293–2305. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2008.02.009.

Book chapters, peer-reviewed

• Stebler, S. and Raghunath, M. (2021) 'The scar-in-a-jar : in vitro fibrosis model for anti-fibrotic drug testing', in Hinz, B. and Lagares, D. (eds) Myofibroblasts. New York: Humana, pp. 147–156. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1382-5_11.
• Badowski, C. et al. (2018) 'Molecular Crowding – (in Cell Culture)', in Tissue engineering and regeneration : cell engineering and regeneration. Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-37076-7_50-1.
• Coentro, J. Q. et al. (2017) 'Collagen quantification in tissue specimens', in Fibrosis. Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7113-8_22.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

Ling, L. et al. (2019) 'Biomimicry of glycosaminoglycans in the bone marrow microenvironment favour the expansion of highly potent human mesenchymal stem cells', in Cytotherapy : 25th Annual ISCT Meeting. Elsevier, p. S71. doi: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2019.03.463.

Other publications

• Moldovan, N. I., Moldovan, L. and Raghunath, M. (2019) 'Of balls, inks and cages : hybrid biofabrication of 3D tissue analogs', International Journal of Bioprinting, 5(1), p. 167. doi: 10.18063/ijb.v5i1.167.
• Benny, P. and Raghunath, M. (2017) 'Making microenvironments : a look into incorporating macromolecular crowding into in vitro experiments, to generate biomimetic microenvironments which are capable of directing cell function for tissue engineering applications', Journal of Tissue Engineering. doi: 10.1177/2041731417730467.
• Raghunath, M. et al. (2016) 'Zurich University of Applied Sciences : center for cell biology and tissue engineering', in Roche Symposium, Basel, 2016.
• Rimann, M. et al. (2016) 'Zurich university of applied sciences : center for cell biology and tissue engineering', in Roche Symposium, Basel, 2016.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Rimann, M. et al. (2017) '3D bioprinted tissue models for substance testing', in International Conference and Exhibition - Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS 2017), Washington, USA, 4–8 February 2017.
• Rimann, M. et al. (2016) 'Bioprinted tissues for substance evaluation', in Biointerfaces International 2016 Conference, Zurich, 23-25 August 2016.

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