Engineering Elastic Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Abstract: Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field aimed at maintaining, restoring and promoting the normal function of organs and tissues through the use of live cells, and by incorporating concepts from engineering, biological sciences, and medicine. One of the central themes in the field of tissue engineering is the development of tissue constructs that mimic the three dimensional (3D) architectures of the native tissues. To date, tissue engineering has been successfully implemented in the engineering of different tissues including bone, cartilage, and vascular systems. Despite the significant progress in this field, many challenges still remain, which hinder the development of fully functional tissue constructs. Micro- and nanoscale technologies have been shown to hold great potential to address the current challenges in tissue engineering. These technologies have benefited the fields of experimental biology and medicine through the design of complex biomaterials that can be used for cell-based studies. Our research is focused on merging micro/nanofabrication techniques with advanced biomaterials and nanomaterials for tissue engineering applications. Our group has been actively involved in engineering novel cell-laden elastin-based hydrogels with unique physical and biological properties by using recombinant proteins. We use these bioelastomers as 3D matrices for various soft tissue engineering applications. In addition, we modify these elastic hydrogels to increase their adhesion to tissues and use them as sealants, hemostats, and bioadhesives for different surgical applications. Our work encompasses a wide range of scientific subjects from bioengineering, chemistry, and materials science to biology. In this presentation, I will outline our work in the development of microscale elastic hydrogels to modulate cell-microenvironment interactions for tissue engineering applications. I will also highlight some of the clinical applications of our engineered hydrogel as tissue adhesives and surgical sealants.

Full Article: https://www.proceedings.iaamonline.or...