Engineering polymer biomaterial interfaces for promoting cellular morphogenesis

Three-dimensional in vitro tissue and organ cultures have immense promise as models of human pathophysiology and stand to make a significant impact on the process of drug discovery and development. Many existing model systems do not capture the relevant complexity of the native tissue environment, relying on poorly characterized natural extracellular matrices (ECMs) for growth and development. These models are notably limited by the lack of vasculature, a key functional component of most human tissues, enabling oxygen and nutrient exchange, as well as facilitating paracrine signaling with surrounding epithelial cells. Fully-defined and tunable synthetic ECMs that support the generation of vascular network structures in dense tissue environments represent a path towards overcoming the limitations of existing model systems.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Sofman, Marianna.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paula T. Hammond and Linda G. Griffith.

• Biological Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127710

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/127710