POWRE: Novel Methods of Creating and Assessing Vascularized, Tissue-Engineered Constructs

9973601 Burg美国每年进行约800万例外科手术，以治疗因各种疾病过程和损伤而失去组织或器官的个体。 组织或器官损失通常通过从一个个体移植到另一个个体、通过外科手术重建或通过使用机械装置来治疗。 不幸的是，这些治疗可能只允许暂时修复，并可能引入进一步的并发症。 组织工程是生物替代物的发展，其中细胞可以从患者中取出，在培养物中扩增，培养，与可吸收的聚合物基质组合，并植入患者体内。 一旦植入，聚合物逐渐消失，同时，组织发育并获得形式和功能。 由于植入的细胞来自患者，因此消除了对免疫抑制的需要，以及与传统器官捐赠程序相关的问题。 这项研究在POWRE奖的支持下，将专注于创造可吸收支架以增强血管化潜力的新方法，以及评估这些敏感结构的新的非侵入性方法。 脉管系统的发展对组织工程的进展至关重要;因为，目前发展可行的三维组织的主要阻力是提供血管支持网络的挑战。 该研究将解决可吸收支架的精确图案化以及支架形态、细胞-支架相互作用和整个支架中的细胞分布的优化。NSF POWRE基金对于在PI从博士后研究员向教师过渡期间建立独立研究记录至关重要。

9973601BurgApproximately eight million surgical procedures are performed annually in the United States to treat individuals who have lost tissue or organs through a variety of disease processes and injuries. Tissue or organ loss is typically treated by transplantation from one individual to another, by surgical reconstruction, or by the use of mechanical devices. Unfortunately, these treatments may allow temporary repair only and may introduce further complications. Tissue engineering is the development of biological replacements, in which cells can be taken from the patient, expanded in culture, cultivated, combined with an absorbable polymer matrix, and implanted in the patient. Once implanted, the polymer gradually disappears as, in parallel, the tissue develops and gains form and function. Because the implanted cells are derived from the patient, the need for immunosuppression is eliminated, as are problems associated with traditional organ donation procedures. This research, with support from a POWRE award, will focus on novel methods of creating absorbable scaffolds to enhance vascularization potential and a novel, non-invasive method of assessing these sensitive constructs. The development of vasculature is critical to the progression of tissue engineering; since, currently the major impedance to developing viable, three-dimensional tissue is the challenge of providing a vascular support network. The study will address the precision patterning of absorbable scaffolds and the optimization of scaffold morphology, cell-scaffold interaction, and cellular distribution throughout the scaffold. The NSF POWRE funding is vital to establishing a record of independent research during the PI's transition from postdoctoral fellow to faculty.