Date of Completion

Spring 5-13-2021

Project Advisor(s)

Thanh Nguyen, Kenneth Campellone, Shawn Salvant

University Scholar Major

Molecular and Cell Biology

Disciplines

Biomaterials | Biotechnology | Cell Biology | Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering | Nanomedicine | Nanotechnology

Abstract

One of the most common causes of bone graft rejection is lack of a vascular network connecting the graft to the existing native tissue – allowing for nutrient flow. Under current grafting techniques, the existing blood vessel network in the patient slowly invades the implant in order to supply the injured site with its necessary nutrients. The purpose of this research is to determine if a synthetic bone graft with a stable microvascular network can be developed in vitro. I hypothesize that the use of indirect angiogenic factors such as sonic hedgehog homolog and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 in combination with the direct factor platelet-derived growth factor can produce such a transplantable graft when in the presence of seeded poly-L-lactide films. This project focuses on the use of these factors and co-culturing techniques to promote cellular differentiation and proliferation into a vascularized network composed of bone tissue and microvascular structures in the presence of a piezoelectric material.

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