2009 Research Infrastructure Improvement Grant

南卡罗来纳2009年NSF EPSCoR iii提案联合了Claflin， Clemson， MUSC， SC州立大学和USC，并提出了一个综合计划，以实施全州范围的愿景，这将使南卡罗来纳在生物制造领域具有竞争优势。新兴的？转型的？技术?在操作上定义为计算机辅助，生物相关材料的逐层沉积，目的是工程功能3D组织和器官。拟建的三维血管树工程研究计划分为五个部分。区域。推力1侧重于分析一个真实的（自然）分支维管树的结构功能特性。Thrust II专注于成体干细胞定向分化为血管细胞类型的单体单位，特别是诱导从脂肪组织分离的干细胞进入平滑肌细胞谱系。推力III要求对工程的、顺序的部分进行功能生物力学测试，并与自然发生的（真实的）分支维管树进行比较。推力IV是分枝维管树的生物构造；即创建线性的三维空心管段，代表分支，这些分支可以转换成分支的？Y？或T ?血管单位。推力V侧重于加速组织成熟的生物打印，分支血管管。知识价值。组织工程的一个主要挑战是在从体外培养条件转移到体内宿主时保持大量细胞或组织结构的活力的能力。目前大多数的努力集中在快速制造固体支架，或2D和3D细胞生物图谱。较少强调的是应用发育生物学原理和细胞和组织自组装的基本生物学过程。所提出的基础设施增强是工程分支管的重要组成部分，这些分支管可以按比例（工业化）组装成未来的功能性分支血管树，解决了组织和器官替代工程成功的最大障碍。更广泛的影响。拟议的RII活动将导致：(1)在新兴的高科技、高影响力产业中培训新劳动力的创新伙伴关系；(2)传播和公众教育工程、科学和计算领域的进展和突破；(3)在开发和改进生物打印、生物反应器和生物力学定量的原型设备方面的学术与产业合作；(4)在一个真正全球化的、不受地理、文化和历史界限限制的新标准和技术领域占据先锋地位，拥有吸引代表性不足的群体进入生物工程、计算和生物医学科学前沿新领域的绝佳机会；(5)社会科学和其他专业学科评估和整合最终植入生物制造替代组织和器官的伦理、法律、社会和经济影响的机会。这些考虑突出了一个具有高度科学素养、消息灵通的记者团和公众的重要性，以便理解和公平地代表复杂问题的多个方面。

Proposal Title: 2009 Research Infrastructure ImprovementInstitution: South Carolina Research Authority The South Carolina 2009 NSF EPSCoR RII proposal unites Claflin, Clemson, MUSC, SC State University, and USC and presents an integrated plan to implement a statewide vision that will give South Carolina a competitive edge in the field of biofabrication ?an emerging ?transforming? technology ? operationally defined as computer-aided, layer-by-layer deposition of biologically relevant material with the purpose of engineering functional 3D tissues and organs. The proposed Research Plan to engineer a 3D vascular tree is divided into five ?thrust? areas. Thrust I focuses on analysis of structural-functional properties of an authentic (natural) branched vascular tree. Thrust II focuses on directed differentiation of adult stem cells into monomer units of vascular cell types, specifically to induce stem cells isolated from fat tissue to enter a smooth muscle cell lineage. Thrust III requires functional biomechanical testing of engineered, sequential segments and comparison to naturally occurring (authentic) branched vascular trees. Thrust IV is biofabrication of a branched vascular tree; that is to create linear 3-D, hollow tubular segments representing branches that can be transformed into branched ?Y? or ?T? vascular units. Thrust V focuses on accelerated tissue maturation of bioprinted, branched vascular tubes. Intellectual Merit. A major challenge in tissue engineering is the ability to maintain viability of large masses of cells or tissue constructs upon transfer from in vitro culture conditions to in vivo hosts. Most current efforts focus on rapid fabrication of solid scaffolds, or on 2D and 3D cell biopatterning. Less emphasis has been placed on applying the principles of developmental biology and the fundamental biological process of cell and tissue self-assembly. The proposed infrastructure enhancements are essential components for engineering branched, lumenized tubules that can be scaled up (industrialized) to assemble in the future a functional, branched vascular tree, addressing perhaps the greatest obstacle to successful engineering of tissue and organ replacements.Broader Impacts. Proposed RII activities will lead to: (1) innovative partnerships for training a new workforce in an emerging high tech, high impact industry; (2) dissemination and public education regarding advances and breakthroughs at the interface of engineering, science, and computation; (3) academic-industrial collaborations in developing and improving prototype devices for bioprinting, bioreactors, and biomechanical quantitation; (4) a vanguard position in a new S&T field that is truly global, unfettered by geographical, cultural and historic boundaries, with prime opportunities to attract underrepresented groups into a new field at the cusp of bioengineering, computation and biomedical science; and (5) opportunities for social sciences and other professional disciplines to evaluate and integrate ethical, legal, social and economic implications of ultimately implanting biofabricated replacement tissues and organs. These considerations highlight the importance of a highly science-literate, well informed press corps and public in order to understand and fairly represent multiple sides of complex issues.