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A significant aspect of our work involves the fabrication of biomaterials-based substrates and biomedical device development. Our group has experience with numerous techniques including thermoplastic extrusion, centrifugal molding, and a variety of phase inversion techniques for fabricating both hollow fiber membranes and open-celled porous foams. We use hollow fiber membranes for cell delivery devices and porous foams as scaffolds for growing cell-derived materials. In addition, we create electrode arrays with novel architectures and coatings as well as microcontact printing stamps for neuronal guidance.
Cell-derived materials are a major area of interest in our group. We can culture a wide variety of cell types on porous foam scaffolds, then dissolve the synthetic scaffold to leave behind a fibrous extracellular matrix that preserves biomarkers produced by the original cells. We are exploring applications of this cell-derived material for peripheral nerve cuffs, spinal cord injury bridging devices, intracortical electrode coatings, and vocal fold tissue reconstruction.
Recent Posters:
Astrocyte and Glial Restricted Precursor-Derived Biomaterials
A Natural, Allogeneic, Extracellular Matrix-Derived Peripheral Nerve Cuff
A 3D Scaffold-Free Aligned Astrocyte Construct for Therapeutic Applications
Recent Publications:
Winslow BD, Shao H, Stewart RJ, Tresco PA, Biocompatibility of adhesive complex coacervates modeled after the sandcastle glue of Phragmatopoma californica for craniofacial reconstruction. Biomaterials. 2010 Dec;31(36):9373-81. Epub 2010 Oct 14. [Link]
Wolchok JC, Tresco PA, The isolation of cell-derived extracellular matrix constructs using sacrificial open-cell foams. Biomaterials. 2010 Dec;31(36):9595-603. Epub 2010 Oct 14. [Link]
Wolchok JC, Brokopp C, Underwood CJ, Tresco PA, The effect of bioreactor induced vibrational stimulation on extracellular matrix production from human derived fibroblasts. Biomaterials. 2009 Jan;30(3):327-35. Epub 2008 Oct 19. [Link]
Leung BK, Biran R, Underwood CJ, Tresco PA, Characterization of microglial attachment and cytokine release on biomaterials of differing surface chemistry. Biomaterials. 2008 Aug;29(23):3289-97. Epub 2008 May 16. [Link]
Wen X, Tresco P, Fabrication and characterization of permeable degradable poly(dl-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) hollow fiber phase inversion membranes for use as nerve tract guidance channels. Biomaterials 2006 Jul;27(20):3800-9. [Link] |
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Synthetic and Cell-Derived Materials |
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The Keck Center for Tissue Engineering |
