Tissue Engineering
Hydrogels as Cellular Scaffolds
The study of cells in vitro (i.e. test tube experiments) is currently undergoing a renaissance. Traditional use of plastic and glass substrates to culture and study cells in vitro is being replaced with soft scaffolds that are much more akin to the natural environment the cells are exposed to in the body. In this regards I have experience in measuring the mechanical properties of hydrogels to determine which bodily tissue they mimic most. Additionally, I contributed to work studying the use of a novel biomaterial as a dermal wound graft to improve healing outcomes (publication below). The image to the left is a Netzsch DMA242 that I have used to characterize the mechanical properties of our synthesized hydrogels.
FACS as a Tool for Tissue Engineering
FACS (aka Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting) is an analytical technique useful for separating cell types and also for counting cells. During the development of a hydrogel for biomedical applications, it is imperative to understand how the cells are responding to the hydrogel substrate. To this end, I have used FACS to monitor proliferation or growth of cell populations as well as phenotype and differentiation of stem cells.
Above: Monitoring of stem cell phenotype on hydrogels with various endogenous basement proteins (laminins)
Right: Quantification of stem cell proliferation on our hydrogel
