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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Committee:
Robert E. Guldberg, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology) – Thesis Advisor
Ian B. Copland, Ph.D. (Emory University, Nexplasma Gene Corporation)
Andrés J. Garcia, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Zulma Gazit, Ph.D. (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Hebrew University)
Todd C. McDevitt, Ph.D. (Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University)
Large bone defects, such as those resulting from trauma or tumor resection, are currently repaired using autografts. However, major limitations of this therapeutic strategy, including restricted tissue availability and poor revascularization post-grafting, have necessitated the development of cell- and protein-based approaches. Cell-based bone tissue engineering strategies can localize an osteoprogenitor cell source and differentiation stimulus directly to the defect space, thereby placing less dependency on endogenous cell migration than equivalent acellular regeneration techniques. Additionally, cell-based approaches could ameliorate the biological and financial burdens associated with delivering osteoinductive protein at supra-physiological doses.
The objective of this research is to expose fundamental principles for developing an effective, cell-based therapeutic for large bone defect repair by investigating the impacts of stem cell source and bioactive factor co-delivery. This work will first screen potential bone regeneration candidates for their immediate impact on cell survival, proliferation, and localization. It is hypothesized that stem cell delivery strategies exhibiting better maintenance of cell viability will facilitate a long-term enhancement of bone volume and mechanical strength compared to the delivery of an osteoinductive factor alone.
