Enhancing the Vascularization of Collagen-GAG Scaffolds through Improved Cell Distribution and Fibrin Incorporation

Presenter

Bridget C. Twombly

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Cathal J. Kearney, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A88, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 5 (A81-A100) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Chronic wounds are a significant problem across the world, affecting 6.5 million patients per year in the United States alone. A key reason that these wounds are unable to heal is poor revascularization. A current clinical approach for healing these wounds is collagen-glycosaminoglycan (collagen-GAG) scaffolds, which help promote tissue growth at a wound site. While collagen-GAG scaffolds support tissue formation, they do not help drive revascularization. Prior research shows that the inclusion of fibrin in polyethylene glycol hydrogels increases mechanical strength and promotes highly mature vessel-like structures. We propose that adding fibrin to the collagen-GAG scaffold will promote vascularization throughout the whole scaffold. As a second goal, seeding and centrifuging steps will be used to achieve enhanced cell distribution, which is a persistent challenge for these scaffolds in vitro. The combination of these improvements is expected to yield a collagen-GAG scaffold with enhanced vascularization potential. We have found cell dispersion of various cells throughout the scaffold was improved with both a slow spin or fast spin cycles. When fibrin was added to the seeded scaffold, the number of cells spread throughout the scaffold improved compared to a seeded fibrin-free collagen-GAG scaffold. To date, the slow-spin group is the most promising for cell distribution. This research shows promise in improving cell distribution within collagen-GAG scaffolds to ultimately enhance the vascularization of these scaffolds and aid in wound healing.

Keywords

vascularization, collagen-glycosaminoglycan, chronic wound healing, scaffolds

Research Area

Engineering

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