Tissue engineering design of novel bio-therapeutics for cancer treatment

随着医学研究的进步，越来越清楚的是，需要一种跨学科的方法来开发针对各种疾病的有效治疗方法。因此，我希望从事一项利用组织工程开发新型抗癌疗法的研究项目。此前，组织工程已被用于通过支架的设计来模拟肿瘤微环境以及细胞侵袭性和对化疗药物的反应。此外，可植入支架已成功地用于癌症免疫治疗。然而，仍有许多与此相关的问题需要解决，例如与细胞递送和支架中适当细胞表型的安排相关的问题。本研究项目的目的是开发一种组织支架，为癌症放射治疗后用于再生组织的细胞移植提供更适宜的环境。通过支架操纵细胞生态位可以实现多种功能，如促进内源性再生，帮助转分化/细胞可塑性，或支持唾液腺细胞移植。此外，考虑到腺和/或上皮器官之间的相似性，所设计的支架将被转化为其他环境和被治疗性辐射损伤的器官。例如，如果支架影响唾液腺内的血管内皮，这也可能适用于任何其他含有被放射治疗损伤的血管内皮的组织。最终，这个项目将……利用新型支架技术构建支撑生态位，促进细胞递送至组织损伤部位，从而促进组织功能的再生和恢复。

With medical research advancing it has become clearer that an interdisciplinary approach to developing effective therapeutics for a variety of diseases are needed. I therefore wish to pursue a research project utilizing tissue engineering to develop novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Previously, tissue engineering has been used to model tumor micro-environment as well as cell invasiveness and response to chemotherapeutics through the design of scaffolds. Furthermore, implantable scaffolds have successfully been used as cancer immunotherapeutics. However, there are still multiple problems associated with this which need to be resolved, such as issue associated with cell delivery and arrangement of appropriate cell phenotypes in scaffolds. The aim of this research project is to develop a tissue scaffold which provides a more amenable environment for cell transplants utilized to regenerate tissue following cancer radiation therapy. Manipulation of the cellular niche by a scaffold could perform a multitude of functions such as promoting endogenous regeneration, aiding in transdifferentiation/cellular plasticity, or supporting cell grafts in salivary glands. Moreover, given the similarities between glandular and/or epithelial organs, the scaffold designed will be translational to other environments and organs damaged by therapeutic radiation. For example, if the scaffold affects the vascular endothelium within the salivary glands, this may also be applicable to any other tissue containing vascular endothelium damaged by radiation therapy. Ultimately, this project will... use a novel scaffold technology to build a supportive niche to facilitate the delivery of cells to the site of tissue damage, thus promoting regeneration and restoration of tissue function.