Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ricardo Martins GouveiaORCiD, Professor Che ConnonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
The need to source live human tissues for research and clinical applications has been a major driving force for the development of new biomaterials. Ideally, these should elicit the formation of scaffold-free tissues with native-like structure and composition. In this study, we describe a biologically interactive coating that combines the fabrication and subsequent self-release of live purposeful tissues using template-cell-environment feedback. This smart coating was formed from a self-assembling peptide amphiphile comprising a protease-cleavable sequence contiguous with a cell attachment and signaling motif. This multifunctional material was subsequently used not only to instruct human corneal or skin fibroblasts to adhere and deposit discreet multiple layers of native extracellular matrix but also to govern their own self-directed release from the template solely through the action of endogenous metalloproteases. Tissues recovered through this physiologically relevant process were carrier-free and structurally and phenotypically equivalent to their natural counterparts. This technology contributes to a new paradigm in regenerative medicine, whereby materials are able to actively direct and respond to cell behavior. The novel application of such materials as a coating capable of directing the formation and detachment of complex tissues solely under physiological conditions can have broad use for fundamental research and in future cell and tissue therapies.
Author(s): Gouveia RM, Castelletto V, Hamley IW, Connon CJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Tissue Engineering. Part A
Year: 2015
Volume: 21
Issue: 11-12
Pages: 1772-1784
Print publication date: 26/05/2015
Online publication date: 24/03/2015
Acceptance date: 17/02/2015
Date deposited: 20/07/2015
ISSN (print): 1937-3341
ISSN (electronic): 1937-335X
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ten.tea.2014.0671
DOI: 10.1089/ten.tea.2014.0671
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
