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Use Of Swine Small Intestine Submucosa As A Dermal Suture, Paige E. Black

PCOM Biomedical Studies Student Scholarship

The purpose of this preliminary study is to determine if swine small intestine submucosa (SIS) can be used to create a suture that will perform comparably to commercially available chromic gut sutures when placed into a wound in rat dermis. This study is part of an ongoing collaboration that has explored SIS as a biologic scaffold in various tissues and surgical procedures. In this study, eight Sprague-dawley rats were divided into two groups, each receiving a full thickness skin wound between the scapula, made by a 5mm biopsy punch. The wound was then closed with commercially available chromic gut suture, …

Characterization Of Stard4 And Stard6 Proteins In Human Ovarian Tissue And Human Granulosa Cells And Cloning Of Human Stard4 Transcripts, Aisha Shaaban

Theses and Dissertations

Progesterone is essential hormone for pregnancy, which is produced by the human corpus luteum in early pregnancy until the placenta assumes this function. Transport of the cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane is the rate limiting step for the de novo synthesis of pregnenolone (the precursor to progesterone), a process mediated by STARD1. STARD1 contains a C-terminal lipid binding domain which binds cholesterol and an N-terminal domain targeting STARD1 to the mitochondrial membrane. Unlike STARD1, STARD4 and STARD6 proteins lack a mitochondrial targeting sequence; however, they can bind cholesterol and increase steroidogenesis in model systems. In this …

Engineering Approaches For Suppressing Deleterious Host Responses To Medical Implants, Connor Mccarthy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Small diameter (< 6 mm) vascular grafts suffer from serious deleterious effects not encountered with their larger diameter relatives, leading to premature graft failure through restenosis. Platelet activation, inflammation, and smooth muscle cell proliferation are leading contributors to thrombosis and neointimal hyperplasia, both contributors to the progression of restenosis. It may be possible to suppress negative biological responses to vascular implants through the modification of surface properties and incorporation of drug release into blood contacting materials. In this work, bioengineering approaches are presented to improve the biocompatibility of small diameter vascular grafts.

We demonstrate a novel engineering approach for incorporating natural, decollagenized elastin matrices into PEU 1074A reinforced vascular grafts through spray-coating and electrospinning processes in a manner that retains elastin’s excellent blood contacting properties. A vascular construct with excellent mechanical and surgical handling properties demonstrating the suppression of neointimal hyperplasia is presented after 21 days in vivo.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been investigated over the past several decades due to its platelet, inflammation, and smooth muscle cell suppressing effects; and if appropriately delivered, could positively mediate the contributors to restenosis. Here, we characterize a novel macrocyclic NO …