Dynamic Culture of Trabecular Meshwork Cells on Biomimetic 3D Collagen Scaffolds

* FIRST PLACE BEST IN SHOW *

PROJECT NUMBER: 16

AUTHOR: Kathryn Scherrer, Chemical and Biological Engineering | MENTOR: Melissa Krebs, Chemical and Biological Engineering

ABSTRACT

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Glaucoma is a disease affecting 70 million people that is caused by an accumulation of aqueous humor, resulting in an increase in the pressure of the eye which can cause irreversible damage to the optic nerve. A filtering tissue called the trabecular meshwork (TM) is known to be important to this disease. In vitro studies of human TM cells in unidirectionally frozen collagen- glycosaminoglycan (GAG) scaffolds were conducted. These scaffolds were fabricated using freeze casting. The scaffolds were seeded with hTM cells, and it was confirmed through proliferation and protein expression studies that the cells do well in this environment. Next, we sought to determine whether this system could even better represent the native tissue by providing a continuous flow of media via perfusion. For the development of a functional 3D setup, a perfusion chamber with a series of continuous tubing in a sterile environment has been constructed. Initial data suggest a steady state pressure increase through the system and cell survival and proliferation at a flow rate of 60 μL/min. Once this model is fully functional, it will more accurately represent the tissue that is present in the human eye for drug testing and development of novel treatments.

VISUAL PRESENTATION

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

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Katie is a current senior in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering, and is in good academic standing on the Dean’s List. She will be continuing into the Master’s Thesis program in Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering in the fall, with Dr. Melissa Krebs remaining as her faculty mentor. Falling into the Chemical and Biological Engineering department, so far she has worked on tissue engineering combined with cell culture, investigating the effects of the environment on a network level. For her thesis, Katie will turn her attention inside of a cell, to research into the inner workings deeper than the extracellular matrix. She hopes to continue into research for her career, working in medical studies on a microscopic scale.

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