Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Promoting Extracellular Matrix Crosslinking In Synthetic Hydrogels, Marcos M. Manganare Nov 2015

Promoting Extracellular Matrix Crosslinking In Synthetic Hydrogels, Marcos M. Manganare

Masters Theses

The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides mechanical and biochemical support to tissues and cells. It is crucial for cell attachment, differentiation, and migration, as well as for ailment-associated processes such as angiogenesis, metastases and cancer development. An approach to study these phenomena is through emulation of the ECM by synthetic gels constructed of natural polymers, such as collagen and fibronectin, or simple but tunable materials such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) crosslinked with short peptide sequences susceptible to digestion by metalloproteases and cell-binding domains. Our lab uses PEG gels to study cell behavior in three dimensions (3D). Although this system fosters cell …


Viewing The Extracellular Matrix: An Imaging Method For Tissue Engineering, Michael Drakopoulos, Sarah Calve Aug 2015

Viewing The Extracellular Matrix: An Imaging Method For Tissue Engineering, Michael Drakopoulos, Sarah Calve

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The field of regenerative medicine seeks to create replacement tissues and organs, both to repair deficiencies in biological function and to treat structural damage caused by injury. Scaffoldings mimicking extracellular matrix (ECM), the structure to which cells attach to form tissues, have been developed from synthetic polymers and also been prepared by decellularizing adult tissue. However, the structure of ECM undergoes significant remodeling during natural tissue repair, suggesting that ECM-replacement constructs that mirror developing tissues may promote better regeneration than those modeled on adult tissues. This work investigated the effectiveness of a method of viewing the extracellular matrix of developing …


Computational Prediction Of Remodeling Of Collagen Fiber Network In Articular Cartilage Under Dynamic Unconfined Compression, Juan Andres Coello Amado Jul 2015

Computational Prediction Of Remodeling Of Collagen Fiber Network In Articular Cartilage Under Dynamic Unconfined Compression, Juan Andres Coello Amado

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A poroelastic finite element model of a heterogeneous cartilage disk was created based on previous studies and experimental setups; this allows us to study cartilage behavior under dynamic unconfined compression. Previous studies have used a Post Hoc approach, which consist of searching for patterns or relationships between predicted mechanical parameters obtained through computational and experimental results. Our goal in this study is to take the same Post-Hoc approach and identify patterns between predicted mechanical parameters, such as fiber strain or stress, and experimentally-measured collagen fiber distribution (i.e. reorientation of fibers under dynamic unconfined compression). After computational predictions were obtained, it …


Creation Of A 3d Construct To Aid Cell Migration And Promote Cell Capture, Joseph Michael Sanders Jan 2015

Creation Of A 3d Construct To Aid Cell Migration And Promote Cell Capture, Joseph Michael Sanders

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Most cancer-related deaths are attributed to metastasis. The tumor microenvironment is a complex environment which is not fully understood. The Nano Intravital Device (NANIVID) is a versatile, biocompatible device that allows for the manipulation of the tumor microenvironment in vitro and in vivo, providing a platform to study various aspects of tumor progression. The purpose of this study is to modify the NANIVID to resemble the tumor microenvironment in order to allow for a seamless transition from the in vivo environment into the engineered environment within the NANIVID. This engineered microenvironment will promote cell migration and cell capture. It has …