(325a) Engineering Advanced Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

My research interests lie in the fields of polymeric scaffolds, drug/gene delivery systems, and tissue engineering. The main goal of my research program is to address the challenges in life sciences and medicine by using engineered materials-centered approaches and elucidating the mechanisms underlying material structure-property relationships, material-cell and cell-cell interactions. This presentation will particularly concentrate on the development of functional biomaterials-based 3D platforms and flexible electronic biointerfaces for stem cell therapies targeting tissue regeneration.

Throughout this presentation, we will focus on different strategies to make stem cell-laden functional biomaterials-based platforms/biointerfaces a viable solution for tissue engineering applications. In the first part, I will highlight a unique biomaterials-based approach to combine different functionalities into single scaffold system that enables cellular alignment and directional growth for axonal regeneration.¹ Then, I will proceed with discussing the influence of 3D microstructural and mechanical properties of scaffold platforms on stem cell behavior, such as proliferation and differentiation.^2,3

In the second part of the presentation, I will introduce a novel electrical stimuli-based method to modulate stem cell behavior via implantable flexible electronic platforms.^4–6 We will be focusing on two novel flexible electronics fabrication methods enabling the use of various biodegradable substrate materials with controlled 3D microstructural/mechanical properties to obtain flexible electronic biointerfaces with high resolution and small feature size. With these methods we can fabricate microcircuit integrated, 3D microstructured and stem cell-laden hydrogels or wireless flexible electronic biointerfaces to control stem cell behavior for both in vitro and potentially complex in vivo conditions through the synergistic effect of microstructural/mechanical and electrical cues.

The development of these platforms along with understanding of cellular mechanisms behind the electrical stimuli-based stem cell therapy constitute the foundation of my research program and have the potential to pave the way for different tissue regeneration applications. I will conclude this presentation by presenting our preliminary data demonstrating the potential application of these platforms for nerve, skin and muscle tissue regeneration.

References:

1. Uz, M., Sharma, A. D., Adhikari, P., Sakaguchi, D. S. & Mallapragada, S. K. Development of multifunctional films for peripheral nerve regeneration. Acta Biomaterialia 56, 141–152 (2017).
2. Uz, M. et al. Gelatin-based 3D conduits for transdifferentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into Schwann cell-like phenotypes. Acta Biomaterialia 53, 293–306 (2017).
3. Uz, M., Donta, M., Mededovic, M., Sakaguchi, D. S. & Mallapragada, S. K. Development of Gelatin and Graphene-Based Nerve Regeneration Conduits Using Three-Dimensional (3D) Printing Strategies for Electrical Transdifferentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 58, 7421–7427 (2019).
4. Das, S. R. et al. Electrical Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Schwann-Cell-Like Phenotypes Using Inkjet-Printed Graphene Circuits. Advanced Healthcare Materials 6, 1601087 (2017).
5. Uz, M. et al. Fabrication of Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional High-Resolution Binder-Free Graphene Circuits Using a Microfluidic Approach for Sensor Applications. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12, 13529–13539 (2020).
6. Uz, M. et al. Fabrication of High-resolution Graphene-based Flexible Electronics via Polymer Casting. Sci Rep 9, 10595 (2019).