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Full-Text Articles in Biological Engineering

3-Dimensional Muscle Constructs: Using Hydrogels In Order To Model The Effects Of Exercise In Disease Conditions, Mark Mchargue Jan 2023

3-Dimensional Muscle Constructs: Using Hydrogels In Order To Model The Effects Of Exercise In Disease Conditions, Mark Mchargue

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Currently, there is no standard in vitro model for studying the effects of mechanical stimulation on muscle in type II diabetes. Existing models primarily utilize electrical stimulation, which does not fully recapitulate the effects of exercise. In this thesis, we create a standardized in vitro model of murine muscle that can recapitulate the benefits seen in exercise when mechanically stimulated. Moreover, we show that a type II diabetes environment has similar effects on the muscle in vitro as well as in vivo.


Injectable Gelatin-Silk Fibroin Composite Hydrogels For In Situ Cell Encapsulation, Ryann D. Boudreau Jan 2021

Injectable Gelatin-Silk Fibroin Composite Hydrogels For In Situ Cell Encapsulation, Ryann D. Boudreau

Honors Theses and Capstones

Hydrogels are widely used tools for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Characterized as biofunctional, water-based polymer matrices with tunable mechanical properties, hydrogels have promising but limited applications in biomedical engineering, due to poor and static matrix strength. Here we plan to rectify this issue by introducing a new hydrogel made from a composite of gelatin and silk fibroin crosslinked by microbial transglutaminase (mTG) instantly and beta sheet formation gradually, respectively. This interpenetrating network (IPN) shows enhanced mechanical stiffness and strength compared to gelatin hydrogels, and is capable of encapsulating human cells with high viability demonstrated by the encapsulation of human …


Design And Development Of Two Component Hydrogel Ejector For Three-Dimensional Cell Growth, Thomas Dunkle, Jessica Deschamps, Connie Dam May 2015

Design And Development Of Two Component Hydrogel Ejector For Three-Dimensional Cell Growth, Thomas Dunkle, Jessica Deschamps, Connie Dam

Honors Scholar Theses

Hydrogels are useful in wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering applications, but the available methods of injecting them quickly and noninvasively are limited. The medical industry does not yet have access to an all-purpose device that can quickly synthesize hydrogels of different shapes and sizes. Many synthesis procedures that have been developed result in the formation of amorphous hydrogels. While generally useful, amorphous hydrogels exhibit limited capability in tissue engineering applications, especially due to their viscous properties. This endeavor aims to modulate the appropriate gelation parameters, optimize the injection process, and create a prototype that allows for the extrusion …


Application Of Limited Mixing In The Hele-Shaw Geometry In Fabrication Of Janus Hydrogels, Md Mahmudur Rahman Jul 2014

Application Of Limited Mixing In The Hele-Shaw Geometry In Fabrication Of Janus Hydrogels, Md Mahmudur Rahman

Md Mahmudur Rahman

It is widely accepted that cells behave differently responding to the stiffness of their extracellular matrix (ECM). Such observations were made by culturing cells on hydrogel substrates of tunable stiffness. However, it was recently proposed that cells may sense how strongly they are tethered to ECM, not the local stiffness of ECM. To investigate both hypotheses, we developed a method to fabricate Janus polyacrylamide (PAAM) gels. We squeeze two drops of different concentrations in the Hele-Shaw geometry to generate radial Stokes flow. When the drops coalesce, limited mixing occurs at the interface due to the narrow confinement, and diffusion normal …


Application Of Limited Mixing In The Hele-Shaw Geometry In Fabrication Of Janus Hydrogels, Md Mahmudur Rahman Apr 2014

Application Of Limited Mixing In The Hele-Shaw Geometry In Fabrication Of Janus Hydrogels, Md Mahmudur Rahman

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is widely accepted that cells behave differently responding to the stiffness of their extracellular matrix (ECM). Such observations were made by culturing cells on hydrogel substrates of tunable stiffness. However, it was recently proposed that cells may sense how strongly they are tethered to ECM, not the local stiffness of ECM. To investigate both hypotheses, we developed a method to fabricate Janus polyacrylamide (PAAM) gels. We squeeze two drops of different concentrations in the Hele-Shaw geometry to generate radial Stokes flow. When the drops coalesce, limited mixing occurs at the interface due to the narrow confinement, and diffusion normal …


Surface- And Hydrogel-Mediated Delivery Of Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles, Angela K. Pannier, Tatiana Segura Jan 2013

Surface- And Hydrogel-Mediated Delivery Of Nucleic Acid Nanoparticles, Angela K. Pannier, Tatiana Segura

Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Gene expression within a cell population can be directly altered through gene delivery approaches. Traditionally for nonviral delivery, plasmids or siRNA molecules, encoding or targeting the gene of interest, are packaged within nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are then delivered to the media surrounding cells seeded onto tissue culture plastic; this technique is termed bolus delivery. Although bolus delivery is widely utilized to screen for efficient delivery vehicles and to study gene function in vitro, this delivery strategy may not result in efficient gene transfer for all cell types or may not identify those delivery vehicles that will be efficient in vivo. …