Biomineralization and self-assembly of genetically modifiable nanofibers to build bone tissue engineering scaffolds

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Public Law 111-5).0854414Mao Intellectual merit This project will advance the fields of bone biomineralization and tissue engineering while promoting teaching, training and learning. A peptide that can specifically not only bind to but also nucleate hydroxylapatite (HAP) nanocrystals will be identified by phage display. Phage that double-displays this binding/nucleating peptide and the cell-adhesion peptide on its surface can be site-specifically biomineralized and selfassemble into a scaffold, which mimics the chemical composition and hierarchical architecture of bone extracellular matrix (ECM) and thus is expected to have biological functions of natural bone ECM. The resultant ECM-like scaffold can support the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to form bone in vitro. Broader impacts This project will have impacts on materials science, chemistry, biology, bioengineering and medicine. It shows that phage is a good platform for studying the mechanism of biomineralization and can be applied to develop scaffolds for the engineering of other tissues. It will also be integrated into outreach and educational activities and have many benefits. It will facilitate the development of a new curriculum on bionanotechnology at Oklahoma University to educate a new generation of workforce in the field of bionanotechnology. It will allow bioengineering PhD and undergraduate students to be trained to satisfy the urgent need of multidisciplinary talents in bionanotechnology. Community college students will be motivated to pursue higher education. A Native American Nanotechnology Outreach (NANO) program in Oklahoma that has recently been initiated by the PI will be expanded and solidified by partnering with Native American students, high school educators and the Native American Research Center for Health (NARCH) program in Oklahoma. This program will help Oklahoma Native Americans become interested in scientific careers and competitive in job markets. Public awareness of bionanotechnology will be increased in Oklahoma statewide by partnering with the Oklahoma Nanotechnology Initiative, and more Oklahomans will be Speaking of Nano