Patterned Hydrogel Matrix for Three-Dimensional Cell Growth

高分子生物材料已广泛应用于再生医学，特别是在组织工程和药物输送方面取得了巨大成功。渥太华大学提出的研究项目将专门针对使用聚合生物材料来影响细胞生物学在脊髓损伤修复中的应用。本研究计划提出一种结合材料科学、工程与生物学的新型光笼化多肽方法。该项目的目标是优化我的实验室最近开发的新型光笼方法，以指导3D水凝胶中的神经元生长。最终，我们的目标是克服脊髓损伤，并预期在拟议的研究项目中创造的基础知识将导致再生医学的策略，以克服其他中枢神经系统疾病，如脑损伤，其中再生是至关重要的。

Polymeric biomaterials have been widely used with great success for applications in regenerative medicine, particularly in tissue engineering and drug delivery. The proposed research program at the University of Ottawa will specifically be targeted to use polymeric biomaterials to influence cell biology for applications in spinal cord injury repairs. The research program proposes a novel photocaged peptide approach to combine material science and engineering with biology. The objective of this project is to optimize the novel photocage approach that my lab has recently developed in order guide neuronal growth in 3D hydrogel. Ultimately, our goal is to overcome spinal cord injuries and anticipate that the fundamental knowledge created in the proposed research program will lead to strategies in regenerative medicine to overcome other central nervous system disorders such as brain injuries where regeneration is critical.