Multifunctional Hydrogels as Stem Cell Carriers for Cardiac Therapy

多功能水凝胶作为心脏治疗的干细胞载体

• 批准号: 1006734
• 负责人: Jianjun Guan
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1006734&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Multifunctional; Hydrogels; Stem; Cell; Carriers

This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to Ohio State University is to study multifunctional hydrogels serving as stem cell carriers and having potential to be used for treating heart disease. Existing hydrogels for cardiac stem cell therapy are deficient in that they have low injection properties, limited cell survival, and unsuitable mechanical properties. These limitations compromise efficacy of cardiac stem cell therapy. To address above limitations, the work aims at generating hydrogels that are thermosensitive and injectable with injection properties suitable for delivery into heart by a simple injection approach, have biochemical microenvironment favorable for enhanced stem cell survival/growth, and possess heart-specific mechanical properties. Suitable mechanical properties allow hydrogel itself to provide an efficient mechanical support to heart tissue, prevent stem cell differentiation towards lineages unbeneficial to the improvement of heart function, and ideally direct stem cell differentiation towards desired lineages. In addition to graduate and undergraduate teaching and training, the proposed education and outreach activities include nationwide videoconferencing with high school students; increasing the participation of women in science and engineering; and providing underrepresented/minority students with unique research opportunities related to this project.Heart disease affects several millions of people in US. Tissue engineering approach that combines biomaterials and stem cells has been used to treat this disease. Current biomaterials for this application have significant limitations, compromising efficacy of the therapy. The work aims to create novel biomaterials specific for cardiac therapy, which possesses appropriate biochemical and biomechanical properties for stem cell survival, growth and differentiation, and has potential to be delivered into heart using convenient, minimally invasive approaches. Successful accomplishment of the proposed research is expected to provide a platform for engineering biomaterials specific for other tissues. The biomaterials research overcomes existing challenges while being integrated with a multifaceted education and outreach plan. It includes nationwide videoconferencing with high school students to allow them to understand the importance of tissue engineering to human health, stimulating female students' interest in learning engineering, and providing unique research opportunities for underrepresented/ minority students to educate a new generation of biomedical scientists and engineers.

该奖项由俄亥俄州立大学材料研究部生物材料项目颁发，旨在研究作为干细胞载体的多功能水凝胶，并具有用于治疗心脏病的潜力。现有的用于心脏干细胞治疗的水凝胶存在注射性能低、细胞存活率有限和机械性能不合适等缺陷。这些局限性影响了心脏干细胞治疗的疗效。为了解决上述限制，本研究旨在制备具有热敏性和可注射性的水凝胶，这些水凝胶具有适合通过简单注射方法输送到心脏的注射特性，具有有利于增强干细胞存活/生长的生化微环境，并具有心脏特异性的机械特性。合适的机械性能使水凝胶本身能够为心脏组织提供有效的机械支持，防止干细胞向不利于心脏功能改善的谱系分化，并理想地引导干细胞向所需的谱系分化。除了研究生和本科生的教学和培训外，拟议的教育和推广活动还包括与高中生进行全国范围的视频会议；增加妇女在科学和工程领域的参与；并为弱势群体/少数民族学生提供与本项目相关的独特研究机会。在美国，心脏病影响着数百万人。结合生物材料和干细胞的组织工程方法已被用于治疗这种疾病。目前用于这种应用的生物材料有明显的局限性，影响了治疗的效果。这项工作旨在创造新的心脏治疗特异性生物材料，这种材料具有适合干细胞存活、生长和分化的生化和生物力学特性，并且有可能通过方便、微创的方法进入心脏。该研究的成功完成有望为其他组织的工程生物材料提供一个平台。生物材料研究克服了现有的挑战，同时与多方面的教育和推广计划相结合。它包括与高中生举行全国范围的视频会议，让他们了解组织工程对人类健康的重要性，激发女学生对学习工程的兴趣，并为代表性不足/少数民族学生提供独特的研究机会，以培养新一代生物医学科学家和工程师。