Fabrication and Characterization of Biocompatible Hydrogels for Trabecular Meshwork Cell Cultures

PROJECT NUMBER: 13

AUTHOR: Grae Patterson, Chemical and Biological Engineering | MENTOR: Melissa Krebs, Chemical and Biological Engineering

MENTOR: Matt Osmond, Chemical and Biological Engineering | MENTOR: Ben Stinson, Chemical and Biological Engineering

ABSTRACT

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The purpose of this project is to improve the method for testing drugs to treat glaucoma. Glaucoma is believed to be caused by a buildup of intraocular pressure, which is regulated by the trabecular meshwork. Current problems with testing glaucoma drugs involve the lack of structural similarity between the cells used for testing and those in the native trabecular meshwork tissue. In order to conduct more accurate tests, a three-dimensional cell environment must be used. Previous research indicates that methacrylated gelatin is biocompatible and susceptible to photo-initiated crosslinking, making it a suitable material for cellular scaffolds. An indicator of the functionality of the trabecular meshwork cells in culture is their gene expression. In this project, the expression of two essential trabecular meshwork proteins, myocilin and fibronectin, will be considered. Experimental conditions will test whether two glycosaminoglycans present in the native tissue, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, will help to mimic the native tissue and whether dexamethasone will increase the expression of myocilin and fibronectin. Testing methods will include FTIR to determine if methacrylation of the gelatin was successful, rheology to characterize the gels, and cell studies involving proliferation, confocal imaging of fibronectin, and qPCR.

VISUAL PRESENTATION

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

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Grae is a sophomore in the CBE department pursuing a degree in chemical engineering on the biological track with a minor in biomedical engineering. She has worked in Dr. Krebs’ lab for the last two semesters on projects studying the trabecular meshwork within the eye and glaucoma treatment. In the future, she would like to continue to research topics related to medicine.

Sponsored by Phillips 66