CAREER: Hydrogels for Matrix-Tethered Gene Delivery

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

CBET-0747539, Segura The formation of a mature and stable vascular network is a major bottleneck in the formation of functional tissue replacements and the treatment of hard to heal wounds (e.g. ischemic wounds). Tissue engineering scaffolds that can temporally control the delivery of angiogenic signals are essential for the regeneration of a mature and stable vasculature. The overall goal of this project is to design materials that can deliver multiple DNA molecules encoding for different genes at different times using hyaluronic acid hydrogels and enzymes to mediate release. In particular, the proposed studies will exploit a matrix tethered gene delivery approach and will engineer DNA containing hydrogel materials that have specific mechanical properties, bio-adhesive properties and degradation rates to allow for cellular infiltration and achieve temporally controlled gene transfer. The success of the proposed research will provide an alternative approach to temporally regulate the delivery of multiple bioactive molecules in vitro and in vivo from hydrogel scaffolds. Temporally regulated delivery of multiple bioactive signals has broad impact to biomedical and bioengineering research by providing tools to investigate how multiple bioactive factors act in concert in a particular system and to determine what particular combinations and release kinetics result in the desired effect. Moreover, the PI will link her research activities with educational programs to increase the interest of K-12 as well as undergraduate students to science and engineering studies and biomedical research. In the area of K-12, the PI's effort is divided into three aims: (i) the creation of a weeklong summer research program for high school students, (ii) hosting high school students for three months during the summer through already established, NSF funded, educational programs at UCLA, and (iii) participating in career day at Los Angeles Area high schools. For undergraduates already at UCLA engineering, the PI will provide mentored research opportunities in her laboratory. All mentored research opportunities are design to introduce students to various aspects of biomaterial and gene delivery research using the proposed research as the backbone.