Using Cell-Instructive Biomaterials to Dissect the Chemical and Mechanical Influences of the Extracellular Matrix

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Seminar

Featuring Andrew J. Putnam, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering
UC Irvine

Location:  Engineering Lecture Hall 110
Free and open to the public.
Light refreshments served following the event.

Abstract:
Research in the field of biomaterials has experienced a renaissance in the past two decades.  Once driven by the need for biocompatible, bio-inert materials for orthopedic and dental applications, a significant amount of research in this area is now focused on engineering “cell-instructive” materials designed to interact with biological macromolecules, cells, and tissues in a specific fashion.  Efforts to design such new materials are largely inspired by the native extracellular matrix (ECM), a complex 3-D network of proteins and polysaccharides that surrounds cells in the majority of tissues in the human body.  Once thought to provide only structural support to tissues by acting as a scaffold to which cells bind, it is widely recognized that the ECM provides vital chemical and mechanical information to the cells with which it interacts. 

To address the coordinated effects of ECM chemistry (i.e., ligand identity and density) and mechanics (i.e., compliance) on cell phenotype in both 2-D and 3-D cultures, Putnam’s laboratory has adapted several polymeric biomaterial platforms in which ECM ligand density and mechanics can be effectively decoupled.  In this presentation, specific vignettes with respect to their findings regarding angiogenesis, myogenesis, osteogenesis, and tumorigenesis will be discussed.  Ultimately, they hypothesize that focusing on the mechano-chemical functionality of the ECM will facilitate their efforts to engineer novel instructive biomaterials that induce predictable cellular responses.  Such materials would have enormous implications for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and will likely be critical to translate stem cell-based therapies from bench to bedside.

Putnam is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at UC Irvine.  He obtained his B.S. in chemical engineering from UCLA in 1994, and M.S.E. (1996) and Ph.D. (2001) degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. Following post-doctoral training in cell biology, Putnam joined the faculty at UC Irvine in January 2003. He is a recipient of the Fariborz Maseeh Best Faculty Teacher Award from The Henry Samueli School of Engineering (2005) and the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award (2007). His research interests are generally in the areas of biomaterials, tissue engineering, and the cell-matrix interface.