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Stephanie Seidlits
Biomedical Engineering
CPE 4.442A, MC C0400 (see map)
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712
(512) 471-5827 (phone)
seidlits@mail.utexas.edu |
Years with Schmidt Research Group:
2004 - present
Education:
BS, Bioengineering, Rice University (2004)
Research:
Natural-Based
Biomaterials --
The goal of my research is to fabricate
spatially and temporally defined, submicron scale, photocrosslinked structures
of hyaluronic acid (HA). HA is a naturally occurring polysaccharide in the
extracellular matrix (ECM) of most tissues and is upregulated during wound
healing, cell migration, and angiogenesis. When modified with methacrylate
groups, HA can be photocrosslinked into hydrogel networks. We have developed a
system using mulitphoton excitation (MPE) to ‘direct-write’ these networks on
submicron size scales. MPE, the probability of which scales quadratically with
light intensity, allows photosensitive molecules to be excited in an area
confined to the focal area of a near-infrared tuned laser, and thus affords a
method by which to create patterned substrates in the presence of pre-positioned
cells. Spatially and temporally defined surface immobilization of HA in the
presence of live cells at physiological conditions may be used to investigate
and control cell-ECM interactions in processes such as nerve regeneration,
angiogenesis, and wound healing or even to serve as guidance cues on the inner
surface of nerve guides.
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Figure 1:
Hyaluronic acid (HA) photopolymerized into sub-micron structures using
'direct write' two-photon laser excitation. These patterned polysaccharide
structures can be useful in tissue engineering scaffolds. Scale bar, 5
microns. |
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