RUI: Miniaturized Paper as a Low-Cost, Patternable, Shapable and Degradable Scaffold for Cell Culture and Tissue Engineering

California Polytechnic State University Foundation, San Luis Obispo CA

Investigators

Abstract

Non-technical: This award by the Biomaterials Program in the Division of Materials Research to the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo will support the development and characterization of a new biomaterial intended to facilitate the growth of 3-Dimensional tissues in a laboratory setting. An initial application of the new material will include the development of tissue-engineered blood vessels, which could have important implications for future medically-relevant applications. The primary objective of this project is to demonstrate the use of an inexpensive, chemically-modified paper as a scaffold for sustaining the growth of cells in culture. Importantly, paper can be readily patterned, and it can be easily shaped into two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures, allowing for the preparation of intricate tissue shapes. The chemical modification process results in the miniaturization of the paper-scaffold and it also imparts a unique property to the paper, a tunable degradation of the scaffold in aqueous solutions. This award will support the training of the next generation of STEM field scientists through active undergraduate and graduate participation, allowing these students to engage in basic science and engineering research with real-world applications. This project will increase the public awareness of science through the development of visually appealing experiments and structures that are easy to understand on a basic level, yet have compelling applications. Technical: Scaffolds are a key component for tissue engineering, and have been shown to have a significant effect on the morphology of cells cultured in-vitro. The research objective of this proposal is to develop and characterize a new biomaterial that is inexpensive to produce, that can be patterned with reagents, that can be shaped easily into two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures, that degrades in aqueous solutions at a tunable rate, and that could be used as a scaffold for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. The biomaterial will be made by the oxidation of cellulose-based paper with periodate, to produce 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose via the Malaprade reaction. This chemical modification of cellulose results in the miniaturization of the tissue scaffold and allows for its tunable dissolution in aqueous media. Wax patterning of this dialdehyde paper will allow for subsequent deposition of cellular growth factors and seeding of discrete cell cultures in two-dimensions. Stacking layers of dialdehyde paper in turn allows for three-dimensional tissue engineering, as is required for engineered blood vessels, such as coronary arteries. The proposed work will also advance the understanding of dialdehyde cellulose as a biomaterial, as well as the relationships between the degree of oxidation of paper and the mechanical properties of paper. Undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom are under-represented minorities, will play a prominent role with this project, allowing them to engage in basic science and engineering research with real-world applications, while learning important interdisciplinary scientific techniques that will prepare them to be the scientists of the future.