Areas of Research
Areas of Research
Materials Design and Tissue Engineering
Tissue engineering relies on the concerted action of stem cells, factors, and scaffolds. In real-life wounds, stem cells are often limited in their capacity to self-renew and form new matrices of sufficient size to rebuild expansive and dense tissues, including bone. To overcome the challenges of traditional stem cell therapy we have identified novel small molecules which have been integrated into multi-layer scaffolds to facilitate de novo engineering of lost tissues in complex defects.
Learn more about our Materials Design and Tissue Engineering Research.
MicroRNAs
MicroRNAs are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides that control gene expression mainly by binding with messenger RNA (mRNA) in the cell cytoplasm and inhibiting gene function. In general, microRNA inhibit the function of several related genes. As a result, targeting microRNAs either by inhibition or overexpression will target the function of gene families or clusters in a fairly physiological fashion. Due to their function, microRNA delivery has become increasingly popular for gene therapy and tissue engineering. Our microRNA work is currently R01 funded and has been presented at numerous national and international meetings.
Learn more about our MicroRNA Research.
Ameloblastin
The ameloblastin molecule is well-known for its role in tooth enamel biomineralization. Over the past 20 years there have been several reports about ameloblastin function outside of enamel tissues. These findings have attracted several dedicated students to my lab interested in studying ameloblastin function in the skull, in the periodontal ligament, and in long bones. One of these students, Dr. Phimon Atsawasuwan, is now a tenured Associate Professor at UIC. Our papers have been published in a number of distinguished journals, including the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and Matrix Biology. Our work has also been funded by two NIH grants.