Artificial Extracellular Matrix Proteins

该项目的目的是设计和合成一类用于血管移植应用的新型蛋白质生物材料。该蛋白由弹性蛋白衍生的多肽与各种细胞结合肽的重复序列组成。它们将通过在细菌中表达人工基因来产生。材料的分子结构将通过肽序列修饰和交联方法来操纵，以优化机械和细胞相互作用特性。最后，血管内皮细胞和平滑肌细胞在这些材料上的附着、扩散和功能将在静态和灌注培养条件下作为分子特性的函数进行评估。

The objective of this project is to design and synthesize a new class of protein biomaterials for use in vascular graft applications. The proteins consist of repeats of elastin derived polypeptides with various cell binding peptides. They will be produced by expressing artificial genes in bacteria. The molecular structure of the materials will be manipulated via peptide sequence modifications and crosslinking methods in order to optimize mechanical and cell interaction properties. Finally, the attachment, spreading and function of vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells on these materials will be evaluated under both static and perfused culture conditions, as a function of molecular properties.