Tailorable Glycosaminoglycans for Enhanced Stem Cell Chondrogenesis

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to the Georgia Institute of Technology is to develop a glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-based biomaterial platform with high degree of control of sulfation levels in order to better tune these materials as controlled biomolecule delivery vehicles for applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery system. Furthermore, using a mesenchymal stem cell micromass culture as a testbed, this work will define tangible criteria for building biomaterials that can promote stem cell differentiation in response to exogenous soluble cues while providing early information about the role of GAGs (and their sulfation level) in cartilage development. Additionally, because GAGs are implicated in such a wide range of biological processes, the materials developed here can be used to elucidate the role of GAGs in development, cancer, and immunity (to name a few examples), therefore contributing significantly to advancing basic biological knowledge in these fields as well. Further broader impacts include the creation of a highly interdisciplinary environment in which to train graduate and undergraduate biologists, engineers and chemists to address critical questions in creating the next generation of tailorable biomaterials by integrating knowledge from materials science, chemistry, biology and medicine. Biomaterials derived from tissues, such as those examined in this project, are advantageous because they often possess specific capabilities to interact with their environment and direct healing. However, the complex structure and myriad of possible native chemical modifications of these materials have, to date, made it difficult to understand how to precisely control their biological activity and, therefore, impeded their development as a class of therapeutic biomaterials. This project addresses this issue by taking a systematic approach to understanding how chemical modifications to this particular class of biomaterials affects their resulting bioactivity and ability to control release of specific drugs. While the project first will examine the release of specific factors from these materials for cartilage tissue regeneration, in the future, it is expected that the insights derived from these studies will be used to further develop these naturally-derived materials to deliver a wide range of therapeutics for tissue healing throughout the body. This project will also result in the advanced training of graduate researchers with unique analytical skills based on a multi-disciplinary and integrative perspective. Moreover, the planned integrated education and research plan in coordination with outreach programs on campus will result in additional training opportunities for undergraduate and high school students from under-represented minority populations.