Seed Proposal: The Phenotypic Impact of Substrate Dimension and Geometry: Interactions between Articular and Microfilamentous Scaffolds
Matt Stewart, Veterinary Clinical Medicine
Paul Kenis, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Articular cartilage is a highly specialized connective tissue that lines the surfaces of high-motion joints. It equally distributes load across joint surfaces, resists compression and most importantly, provides frictionless, pain-free motion. Articular cartilage degeneration affects approximately 30% of adult Americans and over 50% of the elderly. It has little — if any — inherent reparative capacity. This proposal focuses on cartilage tissue regeneration. The major challenge of tissue engineering approaches to biological repair is to recapitulate the critical cell: matrix interactions that define and enable tissue function. Central to this issue is an understanding of how matrices impact cell phenotype and associated cellular activities. The complexities inherent to tissue engineering objectives far exceed the simplistic “cells on plastic” models used in most conventional biology studies. This study will focus on the dimensions and geometries of supporting 3D scaffolds which profoundly influence the phenotype and activities of articular chondrocytes, the cells responsible for cartilage synthesis. The goal of this proposal is to determine how the intrinsic dimensions and geometries of synthetic matrices influence the articular chondrocytic phenotype.