Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Lung Cancer Targeted Chemotherapy Via Herceptin Based Chimeric Antigen Receptor (Car) Engineered T Cell Membrane Coated Synthetic Nanoparticles, Serkan Yaman

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Cell membrane-derived nanoparticles recently caught attention due to their desirable features in drug delivery such as mimicking properties of native tissue and cells, avoiding systemic clearance, and alleviating foreign body responses. Besides nanoparticle technology, adoptive immunotherapy has emerged for its promising treatment modalities, including cancer specificity. Our long-term goal for this research is to develop a biomimetic drug carrier based on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transduced T cell membranes. In the study, anti-cancer drug afatinib loaded poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) co-extruded with anti her-2 based chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) Jurkat T cell membranes. Anti her-2 CAR-T cells were produced by …

Development Of Medical Devices For Diagnosing Cartilage Injury And Metastatic Cancers, Yi Hui Huang

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

My research focused on applying biomedical engineering techniques to diagnose different diseases and conditions. The results of these work led to one published paper and two submitted manuscripts which are summarized in Chapters 2, 3 &4. Briefly, in Chapter 2, my work laid emphasis on developing a method for early detection of cartilage injury. An apoptotic cell-detecting probe was fabricated by the conjugation of the apoptotic cell-binding peptide (CQRPPR) and a sulfo-cyanine7 N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (Cy7 dye). Both in vitro and ex vivo examination showed an excellent relationship between the number of apoptotic chondrocytes and probe binding affinity. Finally, using a …

Application Of Tissue Engineering Techniques For Treating Cartilage Injury And Diagnosing Cancer Metastasis, Amirhossein Hakamivala

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

This study focuses on the application of tissue engineering techniques for the diagnosis of cancer metastasis, cartilage regeneration, and modeling of lymph node metastasis. Chapter 1 is an overview of tissue engineering strategies, and it describes how each chapter relates to the central theme. Chapter 2 describes the development of 3D lymph node (LN) mimetic for studying prostate cancer metastasis. The overall objective of this chapter was to develop a biosystem with the ability to mimic metastatic LN condition. Studies were first designed to uncover the critical cells types and chemokines responsible for cancer metastasis to the LNs. An LN …

Development Of An In Vitro Tbi Models And Validation Of Nanodelivery For Restoration Of Disrupted Brain Endothelium, Edidiong I. Inyang

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) is a serious concern among military personnel and their families. Although the mechanisms responsible for disruption to the brain are not well understood, the development of reliable diagnosis along with effective therapeutic treatment is urgently warranted. Recent findings suggest that shockwaves produced by a blast can generate micron-size bubbles that subsequently collapse in the brain tissue. The collapse of microbubbles (referred to as microcavitation) may compromise the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Moreover, addiction to the psycho-stimulant drugs (PSDs), e.g. cocaine and alcohol which are known to cause toxicity due to oxidative stress, can …

Customization Of Aneurysm Scaffold Geometries For In Vitro Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessel Mimics To Use As Models For Neurovascular Device Testing, Camille D. Villadolid

Master's Theses

Cerebral aneurysms occur due to the ballooning of blood vessels in the brain. Rupture of aneurysms can cause a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which, if not fatal, can cause permanent neurologic deficits. Minimally invasive neurovascular devices, such as embolization coils and flow diverters, are methods of treatment utilized to prevent aneurysm rupture. The rapidly growing market for neurovascular devices necessitates the development of accurate aneurysm models for preclinical testing. In vivo models, such as the rabbit elastase model, are commonly chosen for preclinical device testing; however, these studies are expensive, and aneurysm geometries are difficult to control and often do not replicate …

Methods Of Estimating Foot And Ankle Power In Takeoff Phase Of Standing Vertical Jump, Kundan Joshi

Masters Theses

Experimental motion capture studies have commonly considered the foot as a single rigid body. However, the presence of internal joints as well as soft-tissue interactions inside the foot demonstrate that the foot is in fact not rigid. Various methods have been applied to study the deviations of the foot from rigid body mechanics, such as developing multi-segment foot models or employing compensation strategies for the rigid foot model. However, no study has compared these compensation strategies with multi-segment models in any movement such as gait or jumping. This study compared two main compensation strategies (distal foot power and power balance …

Modification And Optimization Of Conducting Polymer-Modified, Redox-Magnetohydrodynamics (R-Mhd) Pumping For Enhanced And Sustained Microfluidics Applications, Md Foysal Zahid Khan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, a novel microfluidic pumping approach, redox-magnetohydrodynamics (R-MHD) has improved by materials and device optimization to use in lab-on-a-chip applications. In R-MHD, magnetic flux (B) and ionic current density (j) interacts to generate body force (FB) in between active electrodes, according to the equation FB = j×B. This unique fluid pumping approach is scalable, tunable, generates flat flow profile, and does not require any channels or valves. Pumping performance, such as speed scales with the ionic current density (j) and duration depends on the total charge (Q). The ionic current density (j) results from the conversion of electronic …

Mechanisms Of Reduced Vascular Tone Following Arteriogenesis Induced By Femoral Artery Ligation, Christopher Hatch

Biomedical Engineering

The presence of a developed, native collateral network can decrease the severity of ischemic injury proceeding arterial occlusion. The collateral network must under arteriogenesis to enlarge and increase blood flow to the ischemic region. Although there has been tremendous effort attempting to understand the mechanisms of arteriogenesis, no therapies have been successful in improving patient outcome. To better understand the mechanisms involved in arteriogenesis, the effect of nitric oxide production, myogenic tone, and a-adrenergic receptors were evaluated as these have been identified as playing an important role in vascular injury. Arteriogenesis was induced by ligating the femoral artery between the …

Characterization Of Biofilms In A Synthetic Rhizosphere Using Hollow Fiber Root-Mimetic Systems, Michelle Bonebrake

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The area around a plant’s roots hosts a complex and diverse microbial community. This environment can include a large number of bacteria that live on the surface of the root and benefit from the nutrients that the roots exude into the soil. These microbes can in turn be beneficial to the plant by protecting the roots from harmful fungi or stressful environmental conditions such as drought. In this thesis, several root-mimetic systems (RMSs) were developed for the study and growth of plant-beneficial bacteria in the laboratory environment. The RMS uses a porous hollow fiber used in hemodialysis as a surface …

Bioengineering Extracellular Matrix Scaffolds For Volumetric Muscle Loss, Kevin Roberts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volumetric muscle loss overwhelms skeletal muscle’s ordinarily capable regenerative machinery, resulting in fibrosis and severe functional deficits which have defied clinical repair strategies. My work spans the design and preclinical evaluation of implants intended to drive the cell community of injured muscle toward a regenerative state, as well as the development of an understanding of the molecular responses of this cell community to biomaterial interventions. I demonstrate a new class of biomaterial by leveraging the productive capacity of sacrificial hollow fiber membrane cell culture; I show specifically that unique threads of whole extracellular matrix can be isolated by solvent degradation …

Bioactive Glass Fiber Fabrication Via A Combination Of Sol-Gel Process With Electro-Spinning Technique, Malvika Nagrath, Adel Alhalawani, Alireza Rahimnejad Yazdi, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Discovery And Engineering Of An Endophytic Pseudomonas Strain From Taxus Chinensis For Efficient Production Of Zeaxanthin Diglucoside, Ozkan Fidan, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Background

Endophytic microorganisms are a rich source of bioactive natural products. They are considered as promising biofertilizers and biocontrol agents due to their growth-promoting interactions with the host plants and their bioactive secondary metabolites that can help manage plant pathogens. Identification of new endophytes may lead to the discovery of novel molecules or provide new strains for production of valuable compounds.

Results

In this study, we isolated an endophytic bacterium from the leaves of Taxus chinensis, which was identified as Pseudomonas sp. 102515 based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence and physiological characteristics. Analysis of its secondary metabolites revealed …

Investigation Of The Biosynthetic Process Of Indigoidine, Yi Chen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Indigoidine is a natural blue dye with antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. It has also been used as an indicator for gene expression based on its distinctive blue color. Similar to the industry blue dye indigo, indigoidine has a promising potential to be applied in industry as a blue dye. However, the indigoidine production level in the original microorganisms was very low. Heterologous expression of the responsible synthetase gene in Escherichia coli can facilitate the fast and large-scale production of indigoidine. Also, a good understating of the working mechanism of the synthetase is favorable for the industrial application.

In our previous …

Metal Related Nanoparticles' Physical Behaviors In Different Physiologica Environments, Muhetaer Tuerhong

Master's Theses

In the past decades, the development of nanotechnology has had tremendous successes in material science. In this technology, the pertinent materials are used at the intermediate scale between individual molecules and their size in the nanometer region(1-100nm) compared to bulk materials. This nanoscale size provides a larger surface area; therefore, nanoparticles would be perfect essential components of nanotechnology. The reduced size of nanoparticles has a larger surface ratio to volume, which can modify their chemical, mechanical, structural, and electrical properties.

In this study, the main goal is to test different metal related nanoparticles, such as CuNPs (Copper nanoparticles), FeNPs (Iron …

Development Of A Low Profile, Endoscopic Implant For Long Term Brain Imaging, Benjamin Scott Kemp

Doctoral Dissertations

The increased public awareness of concussion and traumatic brain injury has motivated continued research into the brain, its functions, and especially its response to injury, with a focus on improving the brain’s repair capabilities. However, due to the critical nature of the tissue, it is currently difficult for researchers to acquire high resolution images below the cortex without sacrificing a lab animal. Sacrificing an animal greatly reduces the amount of data that can be obtained from it, making longitudinal studies unappealing or unfeasible because a large number of animals is needed to obtain useful data over multiple time points. Additionally, …

Exploring The Capacity Of Bacteria For Natural Product Biosynthesis, Ozkan Fidan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation is focused on exploring the potential of bacteria for the biosynthesis of natural products with the purposes of generating novel natural product derivatives and of improving the titer of pharmaceutically important natural products.

A wide variety of compounds from various sources have been historically used in the treatment and prevention of diseases. Natural products as a major source of new drugs are extensively explored due to their huge structural diversity and promising biological activities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antifungal, antiviral and antioxidant properties. For instance, penicillin as an early-discovered antimicrobial agent has saved millions of lives, indicating the …

Optimization Of Biogas Production By Use Of A Microbially Enhanced Inoculum, Anna Doloman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A renewable energy source, biogas, comprises of methane (80%) and carbon dioxide (15%), and is a great alternative to the conventional fossil-based fuels, such as coal, gas and oil. Biogas is created during anaerobic biological digestion of waste materials, such as landfill material, animal manure, wastewater, algal biomass, industrial organic waste etc. A biogas potential from organic waste in the United States is estimated at about 9 million tons per year and technology allows capture of greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, into a form of a fuel. In the light of global climate change and efforts to …

Spiderworms: Using Silkworms As Hosts To Produce A Hybrid Silkworm-Spider Silk Fiber, Ana Laura Licon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spider silk has received significant attention due to its fascinating mechanical properties. Given the solitary and cannibalistic behavior of spiders, spider silk farming is impractical. Unlike spiders, silkworms are capable of producing large quantities of a fibrous product in a manner mimetic to spiders, and there already exists an industry to process cocoons into threads and textiles for many applications. The combination of silk farming (sericulture), a millennia old practice, and modern advancements in genetic engineering has given rise to an innovative biomaterial inspired by nature; transgenic silkworm silk.

This project focuses on the creation of chimeric silkworm-spider silk fibers …

A Study Of Protein And Peptide-Directed Nanoparticle Synthesis For Catalytic Materials, Abdollah Mosleh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanoparticles have received much attentions due to their unique properties that makes them suitable candidates for a broad range of applications. As the size of particles decreases, their surface area-to-volume ratio would increase which is the main cause of much attention. In addition to the size, their morphologies and compositions may also play important roles for defining unique properties. Nanoparticle synthesis include both bottom-up and top-down strategies. To control the process of inorganic nanoparticles synthesis one could follow the bottom-up approach to have atom-level control over their compositions, morphologies, phases, and sizes which is the subject of this work. Due …

Investigation Of The Effect Of Age On Regenerative Outcomes Following Treatment Of Volumetric Muscle Loss Injuries, John Taehwan Kim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a traumatic injury in skeletal muscle resulting in the bulk loss of more than 20% of the muscle’s volume. Included in the bulk loss of muscle is the skeletal muscle niche comprised of nerve bundles, vasculature, local progenitor cells, basal lamina, and muscle fibers, overwhelming innate repair mechanisms. The hallmark of VML injury is the excessive accumulation of non-contractile, fibrotic tissue and permanent functional deficits. Though predominant in the younger demographic, the elderly population is also captured within VML injuries. There are many factors that change with aging in skeletal muscle that may further hinder …