Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Targeted Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation From Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells For Therapeutic Application, Tackla Winston

Dissertations - ALL

Over the past decade, mesenchymal stem cells have increasingly gained interest as a cell source for the treatment of a variety of diseases. This is because they play several roles in tissue homeostasis and regeneration, such as altering the immune response to limit inflammation, aiding tissue repair through the release of various proteins, cytokines and growth factors, or differentiating into functional cells in specific tissues. The interest in MSCs for biomanufacturing applications has resulted in the development of various protocols to differentiate them from pluripotent sources. These protocols, however, fail to account for the differences that exist between MSCs from …

Engineering Temporal And Spatial Complexity In Biomaterial Scaffolds For Cardiac Disease Modeling And Mechanobiology, Chenyan Wang

Dissertations - ALL

Temporal and spatial mechanical cues play an important role in heart development, function, and disease manifestation. A deeper understanding of cardiac mechanobiology is especially important for fundamental biology and clinical diagnosis or heart disease treatment. Currently, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are widely used to build human cell or tissue models, but culturing them in a petri dish fail to recapitulate the mechanical complexity in the native heart. To create a mechanical environment with better pathophysiological relevance, biomaterial scaffolds are usually employed to mimic the mechanical cues originated from extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. The goal of this dissertation is …

Leveraging Isocyanate Chemistry For Low Cost And Highly Functional Hydrogels, Henry Beaman

Dissertations - ALL

The development of novel biomaterials is an important step in providing higher quality products for wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering. Progress is consistently being made in the development of new polymers, yet new polymer systems are often expensive and/or involve complex multistep synthesis methods. These limitations could hinder the translation and scalability of functionalized materials. To address the issues of complex synthesis and high cost, we have devised strategies for polymeric modification using isocyanate chemistry. Isocyanates are used in the manufacturing of polyurethanes. Isocyanates are highly reactive with common functional groups, such as amines, hydroxyls, and carboxylic acids. …

Advanced In Vitro Models For Studying Bone Physiology, Kairui Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

Bone is a highly calcified organic-inorganic composite tissue with complicated hierarchical structure. The presence of complex multi-cellular organization within opaque mineralized matrix makes it challenging to use conventional methods to study in vivo bone physiology even using model animals. To address this challenge, numerous in vitro models have been developed to study bone physiology under well-defined and repeatable experimental conditions although proving their physiological relevance remains a key challenge. This work aims to design and develop new in vitro models that better represent in vivo bone physiology with defined control over chemical and physical microenvironments, at low costs and high …

Manipulated Electrochemical Surface Reactions Induced By Oscillatory Electric Potentials On Metal Based Electrodes, Thomas Stone Welles

Dissertations - ALL

This research effort investigates the manipulation of surface electrochemical reactions induced by oscillating electric potentials on the surface of metal-based electrodes. Specifically, this research presents experimental data identifying modified electrochemical surface reactions caused by low magnitude electric potential oscillations on multilayered catalytic membranes and on implanted biometallic alloys. The scope of this effort consists of four major components: (1) perform an exhaustive literature review and analysis of the current understanding in applied surface electrochemistry and develop potential theoretical frameworks by which to interpret the experimental results; (2) identify the electrochemical manipulation via electrical oscillation while reacting nitric oxide on a …

Atomistic Investigation Of Nucleosomal H3 Histone Tail In Unmodified And Epigenetically Modified States, Kathryn Piston

Dissertations - ALL

Epigenetics is a growing area of research that could potentially unlock the understanding of questions like how and why we develop certain diseases, how we age, how we inherit certain traits and even how our species evolves. Epi is a prefix meaning above, referring to chemical tags that sit above your genetics and dictate gene expression. Although there are many known links between certain epigenetic tags and diseases like cancer, the molecular mechanisms behind these links remains elusive. Gaining a novel understanding of the behavior of key biological targets for cancer like the histone H3 tail motivated this work. Histone …

Optical Printing Of Multiscale Hydrogel Structures, Zheng Xiong

Dissertations - ALL

Hydrogel has been a promising candidate to recapitulate the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of natural extracellular matrix (ECM), and they have been widely used for tissue engineering, lab on a chip and biophotonics applications. A range of optical fabrication technologies such as photolithography, digital projection stereolithography and laser direct writing have been used to shape hydrogels into structurally complex functional devices and constructs. However, it is still greatly challenging for researchers to design and fabricate multiscale hydrogel structures using a single fabrication technology.

To address this challenge, the goal of this work is the design and develop novel multimode …

Computational Algorithms For Predicting Membrane Protein Assembly From Angstrom To Micron Scale, Nandhini Rajagopal

Dissertations - ALL

Biological barriers in the human body are one of the most crucial interfaces perfected through evolution for diverse and unique functions. Of the wide range of barriers, the paracellular protein interfaces of epithelial and endothelial cells called tight junctions with high molecular specificities are vital for homeostasis and to maintain proper health. While the breakdown of these barriers is associated with serious pathological consequences, their intact presence also poses a challenge to effective delivery of therapeutic drugs. Complimenting a rigorous combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to establishing the fundamental biological construct, in addition to elucidating pathological implications …

Computational Algorithms For Predicting Membrane Protein Assembly From Angstrom To Micron Scale, Nandhini Rajagopal

Dissertations - ALL

Biological barriers in the human body are one of the most crucial interfaces perfected through evolution for diverse and unique functions. Of the wide range of barriers, the paracellular protein interfaces of epithelial and endothelial cells called tight junctions with high molecular specificities are vital for homeostasis and to maintain proper health. While the breakdown of these barriers is associated with serious pathological consequences, their intact presence also poses a challenge to effective delivery of therapeutic drugs. Complimenting a rigorous combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to establishing the fundamental biological construct, in addition to elucidating pathological implications …

Polysaccharide-Based Nanocarriers For Improved Drug Delivery, Nan Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

The field of drug delivery has provided a solution to the limited efficacy and high toxicity of many drugs. Nano-sized drug carriers are popular because their size allows for selective accumulation in the diseased area. Polysaccharides are non-toxic and biodegradable natural polymers that can serve as the basis for these nano-sized carriers. Polysialic acid (PSA) is such a polysaccharide with strong hydrophilicity that may reduce uptake by the reticuloendothelial system and prolong drug circulation. In this study, we developed PSA-based nanocarriers, specifically micelles and nanoparticles, for improved drug delivery with improved efficacy and minimized toxicity. PSA-based micelle systems were developed …