Incorporation of protease-sensitive biomaterial degradation and tensile strain for applications in ligament-bone interface tissue engineering

• Main Author: Yang, Peter J
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: engineering, biomedical
• ISBN: 9781267212641; 1267212640

The interface between tendon/ligament and bone tissue is a complex transition of biochemical, cellular, and mechanical properties. Investigating computational and tissue engineering models that imitate aspects of this interface may supply critical design parameters for designing future tissue replacements to promote increased biochemical and mechanical integration between tendon/ligament and bone. Strategies for modeling this tissue have typically focused on the development of heterogeneous structures to create gradients or multiphasic materials that mimic aspects of the transition. However, further work is required to elucidate the role of specific mechanical and material stimuli in recapitulating features of the tendon/ligament-bone insertion. In particular, in constructs that exhibit variation in both mechanical and biochemical properties, the interplay of mechanical, material, and chemical signals can complicate understanding of the particular factors at work in interface formation. Thus, the overall goal of this dissertation was to provide insight into the role of mechanical strain and scaffold degradability on cell behavior within heterogeneous biomaterials.
Specifically, a method for determining cell vertical position within a degradable gel through a laminated interface was developed. A computational model was created to examine possible variation in local mechanical strain due to heterogeneity in mechanical properties and different interface geometries. Finally, the influence of biomaterial degradability on changes in encapsulated human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) morphology under response to cyclic mechanical strain was explored. Together, these studies provide insight into mechanical and material design considerations when devising tissue engineering strategies to regenerate the tendon/ligament-bone interface.