Advisor: Stefan Zappe, BME.
Cell replacement and approaches to tissue engineering
being developed in the our Lab depend in part on
cellular microencapsulation. Microencapsulation
of cells has been an area of research for decades,
though the most common approaches use materials
which the body cannot natively biodegrade. This
is advantageous in applications where non-native
cells need to be isolated from the body's immune
system, e.g. while they deliver a substance, such
as insulin, to a patient who suffers a particular
deficiency. However, we are ultimately interested
in the integration of delivered cells with the
host tissue, e.g. for applications in autologous
stem cell-based therapies. In these applications,
it is important that the body or the cells themselves
be able to remove, redesign, or simply incorporate
the materials used for encapsulation. We are developing
new materials from naturally occurring substances,
collagen and hyaluronan, which have been shown
to be degradable by cells of the body and to enhance
cell survival and proliferation.
Derivatives
of collagen and hyaluronan will be produced,
and used in established microencapsulation techniques.
Assays will be developed to assess biocompatibility
and functionality of developed microcapsule
systems. |
