1. Tissue Engineering
2. Drug Delivery
3. Bionanotechnology
4. Computational Systems Biology
Tissue engineering is rapidly expanding field which integrates aspects of engineering and other quantitative sciences with biology and medicine for the development of functional tissues and organs in order to repair, replace, preserve or enhance tissue function. Our laboratory uses a multidisciplinary approach for improvement of tissue engineering therapies through the therapeutic manipulation of neovascularization, inflammation and innervation in vivo. These processes play a decisive role in the success of implanted scaffold biomaterials used in this field. Specifically, we combine approaches in medicinal chemistry and biomaterials science to develop strategies for therapeutic neovascularization through the controlled delivery of novel small molecule therapeutics which stimulate a response from microvascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells within preexisting blood vessels to initiate vessel sprouting and remodeling. We use computational network analysis tools to gain important insight into potential mechanisms of pro-angiogenic drug mechanisms and to identify new molecular targets for directed drug discovery.
Another potentially successful approach to improve the repair success of tissue engineered implants is the creation of effective scaffolding materials that mimic the composition and architecture of regenerate tissues, thus providing the necessary chemical and mechanical cues that drive cellular differentiation. In this effort, we utilize electrospinning technique to produce nanoscale fibers of collagen and laminin for bone and nerve tissue engineering applications that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) in these tissues. In addition, we utilize synthetic degradable polymers to create porous scaffolding materials for orthopaedic and craniomaxillofacial tissue reconstruction which mimic the architecture and mechanical properties of bone. |
