MINORITY PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

描述(申请人提供)：细胞外基质(ECM)支架已成功应用于30多万名人类患者的软组织和硬组织置换应用中。ECM支架促进特定部位的组织重建，并在重建过程中完全和快速地降解。然而，ECM衍生的支架受到其来源组织固有的机械和材料特性的限制。电纺聚(酯-氨酯)尿素(PEUU)支架是一种替代弹性材料，可以重建ECM的纤维超微结构。然而，PEUU支架缺乏ECM支架固有的生物活性。这项研究的中心假设是，由溶解的ECM和PEUU组成的电纺材料组成的杂化支架将产生具有可预测物理性能的生物活性弹性支架。提出了三个具体的目标：(1)通过酶降解来溶解猪膀胱ECM；(2)电旋转并表征膀胱ECM与PEUU的结合；(3)在体内模型中表征消化的ECM和聚合物-ECM支架植入后的宿主组织反应。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds have been successfully used in more than 300,000 human patients in both soft and hard tissue replacement applications. ECM scaffolds promote site specific tissue remodeling and are completely and rapidly degraded during the remodelling process. However, ECM-derived scaffolds are limited by the inherent mechanical and material properties of the tissue from which they are derived. Electrospun poly(ester-urethane)urea (PEUU) scaffolds represent an alternative elastomeric material that recreates the fibrous ultrastructure of the ECM. However, PEUU scaffolds lack the bioactivity inherent in the ECM scaffolds. It is the central hypothesis of the proposed research that a hybrid scaffold composed of solubilized ECM and PEUU into electrospun material will result in a bioactive elastomeric scaffold with predictable physical properties. Three specific aims are proposed: (1) to solubilize a porcine urinary bladder ECM via enzymatic degradation; (2) to electrospin and characterize a combination of the urinary bladder ECM with PEUU; and (3) to characterize the host tissue response to both the digested ECM and the polymer-ECM scaffold after implantation in an in vivo model.