In nature, materials with complex architectures are formed through hierarchical self-assembly. Therefore, the study and design of hierarchically assembling materials is important in producing materials that mimic biological structures and is a key challenge in biomaterials science and engineering. In articular cartilage, hierarchical assembly of extracellular matrix (ECM) components provides...
Cancer progression is a complex process, leading to metastatic spread of primary tumor cells that colonize distant vital organs and mortality if not stopped. Since clinical strategies to stem this progression are still being developed, it is of great importance to detect this end stage metastatic spread as early as...
End-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, can result from acute kidney injury or sustained kidney damage in the form of chronic kidney disease. As the prevalence of end-stage renal disease continues to rise, the gold-standard treatment—kidney transplantation—is increasingly restricted by the shortage of transplantable donor kidneys. Bioengineered kidney tissues may...
Biomaterials have immense potential for studying fundamental biological processes and developing therapies to help regenerate or replace the structure and function of injured tissues. In order to accomplish this, they need to be designed to mimic the structure and function of Nature’s most important material, the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding...
Built from non-covalent interactions, supramolecular biomaterials are highly dynamic and tunable, and recent work has shown that they are uniquely capable of mimicking functional biological structures. In this work, supramolecular biomaterials built from self-assembling peptide amphiphiles (PA) were investigated with the goal of precisely tuning their cohesive interactions to optimize...
Intrahepatic islet transplantation is a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of Type-1 diabetes that offers the ability to restore endogenous insulin production. Widespread use of islet transplantation is currently limited by poor survival of transplanted islets due to the harsh environment of the liver portal vein, prompting investigation into...
In recent times, there has been a transition away from traditional engineering materials to more advanced materials that are multi-functional and exhibit improved thermomechanical properties. Much of the inspiration for these advanced materials comes from natural biological systems that fulfill the needs of diverse organisms through clever material organization and...
Peptide Amphiphile (PA) molecules developed in the author's laboratory and others have shown great versatility in creating self-assembled nanostructures with built-in biological and/or chemical functionalities. Their applications in spinal cord injury repair, angiogenesis, promoting cell adhesion and templating inorganic materials have also been well studied. Complementing previous compositional studies, where...
For bone regeneration, there is need for biodegradable, synthetic scaffolds that direct the formation of <em>de novo</em> mineralized tissue. Orthopaedic implants additionally require mechanical function. The work described herein attempts to address both of these needs. The general strategy involves integrating molecularly designed tissue engineering scaffolds with porous metallic foams...