Mechanobiology and Regenerative Medicine

再生医学重建缺失或受损的组织和器官的方法包括使用支架、细胞和生物活性分子。使用细胞种植的生物支架是一种常见的方法，已成功地将几种应用转化为临床医学，包括下尿路、胃肠道、肌腱和皮肤再生。引导组织重塑和再生的原理只被部分了解，但生物力学负荷对重塑过程的影响被认为是一个重要的变量。然而，几乎完全缺乏系统的、定量的研究来确定这种可控因素对组织重塑的影响，特别是对具有平滑肌壁成分的组织的影响。目前的建议寻求支持进行一项定量的、假设驱动的研究，以确定机械负荷对体外和体内平滑肌表型的影响，以及与支架结构相关的变化。一种来源于猪膀胱细胞外基质(ECM)的生物支架将种植来自不同来源的平滑肌细胞：血管壁、膀胱和食道。这些器官特定的机械负荷方案对重塑过程的影响，以及通过改变机械负荷模式来调节重塑过程的能力将被研究。其中描述了两个具体的目标：1)种植三种不同类型的平滑肌的ECM将受到精心选择的机械加载方案，并将对细胞表型和基质组织的影响进行定量评估；2)两种类型的平滑肌细胞将被用于器官培养模型(大鼠膀胱壁)，以评估当存在相邻正常组织细胞时细胞和ECM重建的效果。一个由生物力学工程师、组织工程师、内科医生和病理学家组成的经验丰富的跨学科团队已经被召集起来进行这些研究。两名顾问，包括一名再生医学领域的领导者和一名统计学家，将支持这一努力。提供了完成这些研究的时间表、驱动具体目标的假设、完成工作的替代方法以及成功的量化标准。

Regenerative medicine approaches for the reconstitution of missing or injured tissues and organs involves the use of scaffolds, cells, and bioactive molecules. The use of biologic scaffolds seeded with cells is a common approach and several applications have been successfully translated to clinical medicine including lower urinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, musculotendinous, and dermal skin regeneration. The principles that guide tissue remodeling and regeneration are only partially understood but the influence of biomechanical loading upon the remodeling process is accepted as an important variable. However, there is an almost complete absence of systematic, quantitative studies to determine the effect of this controllable factor upon tissue remodeling, especially tissues with a smooth muscle wall component. The present proposal seeks support to conduct a quantitative, hypothesis driven study that determines the effects of mechanical loading upon smooth muscle phenotype in vitro and in vivo and the related changes to the architecture of the scaffold upon which they are seeded. A biologic scaffold derived from the extracellular matrix (ECM) of a porcine urinary bladder will be seeded with smooth muscle cells derived from different sources: the vascular wall, urinary bladder, and esophagus. The influence of those organ specific mechanical loading regimens upon the remodeling process and the ability to modulate the remodeling process by changing the mechanical loading pattern will be investigated. Two specific aims are described in which: 1) ECM seeded with the three different types of smooth muscle will be subjected to carefully selected mechanical loading regimens and the effect upon cell phenotype and matrix organization will be quantitatively evaluated and 2) two smooth muscle cells types will be evaluated upon ECM used within an organ culture model (rat bladder wall) to evaluate the effect of cellular and ECM remodeling when adjacent normal tissue cells are present. An experienced interdisciplinary team consisting of biomechanical engineers, tissue engineers, physicians, and pathologists has been assembled to conduct these studies. Two consultants, including a leader in the field of regenerative medicine and a statistician, will support this effort. A timeline for completion of these studies, hypotheses to drive the specific aims, alternative approaches for completion of the work, and quantitative criteria for success are provided.