*BTI* Translation of Tissue Engineering Technologies

About

Translation of Tissue Engineering Technologies: Tissue engineering is rapidly growing as an alternative for the repair and regeneration of lost or damaged organs and tissue. As further advances are made, academic and industrial researchers are beginning the shift towards translating and commercializing these exciting discoveries and technologies. Some of these products are basic building blocks, the tools and materials used by engineers, while others are combinations of technologies that make the make the products that will make it to the bedside. This symposium will provide an opportunity for tissue engineers to provide valuable input for translating unique technologies from the bench to the bedside. Topics could include, but are not limited to, developing technologies/products to be used by engineers, designing in vitro and in vivo studies aimed at translating technologies, advanced preclinical and clinical models, approaching the FDA, and regulatory strategy as it impacts research and business efforts.

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Acellular Biomaterials for Myocardial Repair 1

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Acellular biomaterials for myocardial repair: Using biomaterials without exogenous cells for myocardial repair has attracted great attention in the past several years largely due to their high translational potential. These biomaterials are designed to possess one or more of the following functions: provide mechanical support to the damaged hearts, prevent cardiac extracellular matrix from degradation by upregulated MMPs, recruit endogenous cells for regeneration, stimulate vascularization in the infarcted area, control inflammation to promote survival of cardiac cells, and decrease cardiac fibrosis. These biomaterials include injectable hydrogels, microspheres, nanoparticles, and 3D scaffolds. The injectable hydrogels, microspheres, and nanoparticles can be delivered to the infarcted hearts by localized injection after open chest surgery, catheter-based injection, or intravenous injection. Acellular 3D scaffolds can be patched on the infarcted heart surface. The biomaterials alone or in combination with drugs, genes, peptides, and growth factors have been used to promote cardiac repair. This symposium will allow presenters to share their current advances in using acellular biomaterials for cardiac repair.

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Biomaterials for Regenerative Engineering 1

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Biomaterials for Regenerative Engineering: Regenerative engineering aims to develop functional, bioactive, and instructive biomaterials for regeneration of damaged or injured tissues. Bioactivity can be engineered into biomaterials by functionalization with proteins, peptides, small molecules as well as by biophysical cues such as surface topography or alignment. This symposium will highlight recent trends in development of bioactive biomaterials that play active role in controlling cellular behaviors such as growth, alignment and differentiation. We will include different classes of biomaterials such as proteins, polysaccharides, synthetic polymers, fibers, metals, ceramics, and hydrogels for applications in regenerative tissue engineering. Translational strategies for taking these biomaterials from ‘Bench to Bedside’ will also be discussed during the symposium.

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Biomaterials with Dynamic Properties

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Biomaterials with Dynamic Properties: Hydrogels with dynamic biophysical and biochemical properties are increasingly used to recapitulate changes seen in the native extracellular matrix or to facilitate cellular remodeling of the matrix. This session will focus on the design principles and characterization of biomaterials with time-dependent properties (e.g., mechanics) imparted by dynamic covalent, physical, or stimuli-responsive interactions. Applications discussed will include, but are not limited to, cellular mechanosensing, differentiation, and dynamic ligand presentation. The use of these platforms for controlled biomolecule delivery will also be included.

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Cell Migration and Biomaterials

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Cell Migration and Biomaterials: Cell migration is a crucial component in the development, remodeling, and repair of healthy tissue. As engineers and biologists develop a better understanding of how the local microenvironment influences cell migration, we can design materials that better control cell migration for a wide range of applications, including tissue engineering, cancer, and cell delivery. With this in mind, this session focuses on the influence of biomaterials on cell migration. Appropriate papers include exploring the experimental and/or theoretical aspects of cell migration in two or three dimensional materials, as well as the fundamental mechanisms of cell-matrix/surface interactions. Papers may also include studies on the role of chemokine expression and/or delivery in cell migration, the determination of critical biomaterial design parameters for controlled cell migration, and the role of physical and chemical biomaterial properties on cell migration. Applications may vary from controlling cancer cell invasion to directed cell migration for tissue engineering, among others.

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Emerging Applications in Engineering Cells and Their Microenvironments

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Emerging Applications in Engineering Cells and Their Microenvironments: There has been an emergence of multiple techniques to engineer cells and their microenvironments in order to control a wide range of cell behaviors. This session will focus on translation of these techniques towards specific applications ranging from organ-on-chip and diagnostic assays to tissue engineering for disease models and regenerative medicine.

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Nucleic Acid Delivery

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Nucleic Acid Delivery: While the majority of sequences in the genome and RNAs in the transcriptome have the potential to be modulated for therapeutically using exogenous nucleic acids, effective and safe delivery remains a technical barrier to clinical translation. Thus, the design of vehicles to deliver nucleic acids to target cells in a safe and effective manner is a rapidly evolving area within the biomaterials field. In addition to continued advances in more established areas such as nonviral gene therapy (i.e.,delivery of plasmid DNA), new approaches are also emerging for delivery of siRNA, mRNA, microRNA, and CRISPR-Cas9. This symposium will highlight recent progress on cutting edge biomaterials systems including polymers, lipids, conjugates, and multicomponent nanoparticle platforms for design and delivery of siRNA, antisense, micro-RNA, micro-RNA inhibitors (i.e., PNA, LNA, etc.), and plasmid DNA. Abstracts on research related to epigenetics, micro-RNA regulation, mRNA-based immunotherapies, and delivery of RNA-guided genome editing technologies are especially sought.

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Orthopedic Biomaterials 1

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