Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Development Of A Cell-Based Regenerative Strategy To Modulate Angiogenesis And Inflammation In Ischemic Muscle, Fiona E. Serack

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The delivery of human adipose-derived stromal cells (hASCs) to ischemic tissues represents a promising strategy to promote vascular regeneration for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). This thesis focused on the evaluation of hydrogels to enhance the retention and pro-angiogenic capacity of hASCs following delivery in vivo. Additionally, priming strategies to augment the paracrine function of hASCs were developed and assessed.

Recognizing the importance of endogenous macrophages in the pro-regenerative function of hASCs, delivery using a previously-developed hydrogel system, composed of peptide-functionalized methacrylated glycol chitosan (MGC-RGD) and a copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PEG(PTMC-A)₂), was …

Extracellular Matrix-Derived Modular Bioscaffolds For Soft Connective Tissue Regeneration, Pascal Morissette Martin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Human decellularized adipose tissue (DAT) represents a promising extracellular matrix (ECM) source for the development of biomaterials, with its properties conductive of angiogenesis, adipogenesis, and scaffold remodelling. This thesis sought to provide new fundamental insight into the design of ECM-derived bioscaffolds by developing novel modular biomaterials for soft connective tissue regeneration and by studying the effects of ECM composition on cell function and fate.

Initial studies explored the effects of ECM composition of pre-assembled bead foams derived from DAT or commercially-sourced bovine collagen (COL) on human wound edge dermal fibroblasts (weDFs) sourced from chronic wounds. In vitro testing under conditions …

The Co-Delivery Of Syngeneic Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells And Macrophages On Decellularized Adipose Tissue Bioscaffolds For In Vivo Soft Tissue Regeneration, Hisham A. Kamoun

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Decellularized adipose tissue (DAT) bioscaffolds are a promising platform for the delivery of pro-regenerative cell populations with the goal of promoting adipose tissue regeneration. The current study investigated the effects of seeding DAT bioscaffolds with syngeneic bone marrow-derived macrophages and/or adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) on in vivo soft tissue regeneration. Methods were established to derive the macrophages from MacGreen mice, which were dynamically seeded onto the DAT scaffolds alone or in combination with ASCs. Seeded and unseeded scaffolds were implanted subcutaneously into C57Bl/6 mice. At 2 and 4 weeks, cell infiltration, angiogenesis, and adipogenesis were analyzed through histology and immunohistochemistry. …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Collagen-Polypyrrole Constructs Using Direct-Ink Write Additive Manufacturing, Rooshan Arshad

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Current efforts in the tissue engineering field are being directed towards the creation of platforms which will facilitate in instructing cells towards biologically relevant outcomes such as stem cell differentiation and disease pathophysiology. Traditional fabrication methods serve as a limiting factor for the production of such platforms as they lack feature and geometric complexity. Additive Manufacturing (AM) offers advantage over said methods by affording designers creative freedom and great control over printed constructs. Such constructs can then be used to create appropriate models for study- ing a plethora of tissues and structures. An AM methodology for Direct-Ink Write (DIW) printing …

Preparation And Characterization Of Electrospun Rgo-Poly(Ester Amide) Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, Hilary Stone

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tissue engineering scaffolds should support tissue maturation through exposure to biologically relevant stimuli and through successful cell infiltration. External electrical stimulation is particularly relevant for cardiac and neural applications, and requires conductive scaffolds to propagate electrical signals; cell infiltration is only possible with scaffolds that have sufficient porosity. The aim of this study was to impart conductivity and increased porosity of electrospun poly(ester amide) (PEA) scaffolds. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was incorporated into blend PEA and coaxial PEA-chitosan fibrous scaffolds, which increased scaffold conductivity and supported cardiac differentiation. The novel combination of ultrasonication and leaching of a sacrificial polymer was …

Functional Co-Substituted Poly[(Amino Acid Ester)Phosphazene] Biomaterials, Amanda L. Baillargeon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The development of new and improved biomaterials is essential for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Amino acid-based polyphosphazenes are being explored as scaffold materials for tissue engineering applications due to their non-toxic degradation products and tunable material properties. This work focuses on the synthesis of non-functional and novel functional poly[(amino acid ester)phosphazene]s using a facile method of thermal ring opening polymerization followed by one-pot room temperature substitution. The family of polyphosphazenes developed in this work is based on L-alanine (PNEAs), L-phenylalanine (PNEFs), and L-methionine (PNEMs) with L-glutamic acid imparting the functionality. Characterization of these materials demonstrated that the one-pot …

Sol-Gel Derived Biodegradable And Bioactive Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Biomaterials For Bone Tissue Engineering, Bedilu A. Allo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Treatments of bone injuries and defects have been largely centered on replacing the lost bone with tissues of allogeneic or xenogeneic sources as well as synthetic bone substitutes, which in all lead to limited degree of structural and functional recovery. As a result, tissue engineering has emerged as a viable technology to regenerate the structures and therefore recover the functions of bone tissue rather than replacement alone. Hence, the current strategies of bone tissue engineering and regeneration rely on bioactive scaffolds to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) as templates onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function.

In this …