Peptide Synthesizer For Biomaterial Preparation

65岁以上的加拿大公民目前消费了年度医疗保健预算的40%以上。在未来20年内，这部分人口预计将从12%增加到21%，医疗保健支出也将相应增加。因此，预计未来20年医疗费用也将大幅增加。老龄化人口的心血管和骨科护理的经济负担被称为21世纪加拿大最大的医疗保健挑战之一。组织工程是一项新兴技术，有可能解决这一医疗保健问题。组织工程涉及制备生物材料支架，将适当的细胞植入支架上，并在体内或体外培养以产生新的组织。由于对替代组织的需求远远超过供体的供应，组织工程取代丢失或受损的组织是一个很有前途的概念，可能会彻底改变医学。我们正在开发新的生物材料和干细胞输送方法，以治疗心血管疾病，以及再生结构软组织，如韧带和关节软骨。及时、经济地合成适当数量的多肽的能力是这些生物材料和细胞治疗未来发展的关键。此申请是请求资金购买CEM公司的自由蓝色肽合成器。该多肽合成器将成为女王大学人体移动研究中心应用生物医学研究共享实验室的一部分，并将直接支持我们的化学工程研究生课程。目前，女王大学还没有肽合成器，它的缺失导致了材料开发和研究进展的重大延误。所要求的设备将被22名研究生和本科生使用，并为女王大学的2名教员的研究做出贡献。

Canadian citizens aged over 65 years currently consume over 40% of the annual healthcare budget. Within the next 20 years, this segment of the population is expected to increase from 12% to 21%, with a comparable increase in healthcare expenditures. Consequently, dramatic increases in healthcare costs are also expected over the next two decades. The financial burden of cardiovascular and orthopaedic care for the aging population has been called one of the greatest Canadian healthcare challenges of the 21st century. An emerging technology that has the potential to be a solution to this healthcare problem is tissue engineering. Tissue engineering involves the preparation of a biomaterial scaffold onto which the appropriate cells are seeded and grown either in vivo or in vitro to generate new tissue. With the demand for replacement tissues far exceeding the donor supply, tissue engineering to replace lost or damaged tissues is a promising concept that may revolutionize medicine. We are developing novel biomaterials and approaches for stem cell delivery to treat cardiovascular conditions, as well as to regenerate structural soft tissues such as ligaments and articular cartilage. The ability to synthesize the appropriate amounts of the peptides in a timely and cost-effective manner is key to the future development of these biomaterials and cell-based treatments. This application is to request funds to purchase a CEM Corp. Liberty Blue peptide synthesizer. This peptide synthesizer will be part of a shared laboratory for applied biomedical research housed in the Human Mobility Research Centre at Queen's University and will directly support our graduate program in Chemical Engineering. There is currently no peptide synthesizer present at Queen's University and its absence leads to significant delays in material development and thus research progress. The requested equipment will be used by 22 graduate and undergraduate students, and contribute to the research of 2 faculty members here at Queen's University.