Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Engineering The Alveolar Gas Exchange Barrier With Extracellular Matrix Coatings For Bioengineered Lungs, Bethany M. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Lower respiratory diseases are currently the third leading cause of death worldwide. For many end-stage patients with these diseases, there is no cure and a shortage of donor organs available for transplant. A promising solution is to design regenerative scaffolds or complete bioengineered lungs, using decellularized lung tissues as a template for regeneration. Recent advances in the field have made significant strides towards developing a transplantable lung. However, the current technology has not produced a functional lung for in vivo transplant due to immature gas exchange barriers. The mechanisms driving alveolar barrier maturation and role that extracellular matrix (ECM) plays …

Development And Characterization Of Lung Derived Extracellular Matrix Hydrogels, Robert A. Pouliot

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) including emphysema is a devastating condition, increasing in prevalence in the US and worldwide. There remains no cure for COPD, rather only symptomatic treatments. Due to unique challenges of the lung, translation of therapies for acute lung injury to target chronic lung diseases like COPD has not been successful. We have been investigating lung derived extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogels as a novel approach for delivery of cellular therapies to the pulmonary system.

During the course of this work we have developed and characterized a lug derived ECM hydrogel that exhibits “injectability,” allowing cells or dugs …