CAREER: Controlling Soluble Morphogen Gradients in Biomaterials

职业：控制生物材料中的可溶性形态发生梯度

• 批准号: 0745563
• 负责人: William Murphy
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-01 至 2013-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0745563&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Controlling; Soluble; Morphogen; Gradients

0745563MurphyAbstractDevelopment and regeneration processes in nature often rely on protein concentration gradients that influence cell activity. The spatial distribution of these proteins, often termed ?morphogens?, influence the phenotype of stem cells as they form new tissues and tissue interfaces. In natural systems, localized protein secretion and subsequent transport through the extracellular matrix(ECM) often dictate the properties of the resulting concentration gradient and, in turn, the biological effect. The approach of this project will be to mimic this natural mechanism in a controlled manner in synthetic materials in order to deliver controlled soluble morphogen gradients to cells. This project is designed to: 1) determine the parameters that control soluble protein gradients in synthetic hydrogels; and 2) use hydrogel matrices to study the influence of morphogen gradients on adult stem cell phenotype, with the ultimate goal of using these systems to engineer tissue interfaces. The interdisciplinary approach of this project will be intertwined with educational activities that integrate biology, bioengineering, and science policy in graduate student training, undergraduate education, and community outreach. The education plan will develop and assess: 1) an interdisciplinary graduate internship program that exposes students to the interface between biology, bioengineering, and public policy; 2) a program that supports collaboration between interdisciplinary graduate researchers and undergraduates from underrepresented minority groups in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines; and 3) interdisciplinary education and outreach experiences that catalyze interactions between biological, physical, and social sciences.

自然界中的发育和再生过程通常依赖于影响细胞活性的蛋白质浓度梯度。这些蛋白质的空间分布，通常被称为？形态发生剂？影响干细胞形成新组织和组织界面时的表型。在自然系统中，局部蛋白质分泌和随后通过细胞外基质（ECM）的运输通常决定了所得浓度梯度的性质，进而决定了生物效应。该项目的方法将是在合成材料中以受控的方式模拟这种自然机制，以便向细胞提供受控的可溶性形态原梯度。该项目旨在：1）确定控制合成水凝胶中可溶性蛋白梯度的参数;和2）使用水凝胶基质来研究形态发生梯度对成体干细胞表型的影响，最终目标是使用这些系统来工程化组织界面。该项目的跨学科方法将与教育活动交织在一起，将生物学，生物工程和科学政策整合到研究生培训，本科教育和社区推广中。该教育计划将制定和评估：1）跨学科研究生实习计划，使学生接触生物学，生物工程和公共政策之间的界面; 2）支持跨学科研究生研究人员和科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科中代表性不足的少数群体的本科生之间的合作计划;以及3）促进生物、物理和社会科学之间相互作用的跨学科教育和推广经验。