Biofunctional Fibers
The present invention describes a method to functionalize polymeric fibrous scaffolds. Surface biofunctionalization is achieved by linking bio-functional ligands and growth factors onto polymeric biocompatible fibers. These biofunctional ligands are crucial for cell attachment, proliferation, and function. The biofunctional fibers within this invention can be either biodegradable or non-biodegradable. Furthermore, these fibers can be arranged into three dimensional scaffolds and can be used for in vitro cell culture or tissue engineering scaffolds. The inventor has demonstrated the advantages of the scaffolding technology using two examples? stem cell expansion on nondegradable fibrous scaffolds, and vascular graft engineering with biodegradable scaffolds. Background Effective scaffolding is important to the success of all tissue-engineering and cell expansion applications. Currently, the design of scaffolds has focused on specific matrix chemistry, substrate surface configuration, and three-dimensional macrostructure design. Polymer scaffolds must possess several characteristics, including high porosity and surface area, structural strength, and specific three-dimensional shapes, to be useful for tissue engineering applications. Description (Set) Proposed Use (Set) The market potential for tissue engineered healthcare solutions has been estimated over 80 billion dollars. The present invention is versatile and can be used for a variety of tissue engineering applications. The biofunctional fibrous scaffold can be adapted to the expansion of a variety of growth factor dependent cells including but not limited to T-cell expansion and dendritic cell expansion for adoptive cellular immunotherapy. In addition, biofunctional scaffolds can be fabricated through the 3-D arrangement of functional fibers. These scaffolds are particularly useful in directing tissue grow (ex. Nerve tissue engineering) or co-culture multiple cell types (ex. Vascular graft engineering)Inventor(s): (Set) Leong, Kam W
Type of Offer: Licensing
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