Faculty Bibliography

While human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) is a promising growth factor for bone regeneration, its clinical efficacy has recently shown to be below expectation. In order to improve the clinical translation of rhBMP-2, there exists strong motivation to engineer better delivery systems. Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel is a suitable carrier for the delivery of rhBMP-2, but a major limitation of this scaffold is its low cell adhesive properties. In this study, we have determined whether covalent grafting of an integrin-specific ligands into HA hydrogel could improve cell attachment and further enhance the osteogenic potential of rhBMP-2. A structurally stabilized fibronectin (FN) fragment containing the major integrin-binding domain of full-length FN (FN III9*-10) was engineered, in order to be incorporated into HA hydrogel. Compared to non-functionalized HA hydrogel, HA-FN hydrogel remarkably improved the capacity of the material to support mesenchymal stem cell attachment and spreading. In an ectopic bone formation model in the rat, delivery of rhBMP-2 with HA-FN hydrogel resulted in the formation of twice as much bone with better organization of collagen fibers compared to delivering the growth factor in non-functionalized HA hydrogel. This engineered hydrogel carrier for rhBMP-2 can be relevant in clinical bone repair.

Tenascin C (TNC) is an extracellular matrix protein that is upregulated during development as well as tissue remodeling. TNC is comprised of multiple independent folding domains, including 15 fibronectin type III-like (TNCIII) domains. The fifth TNCIII domain (TNCIII5) has previously been shown to bind heparin. Our group has shown that the heparin-binding fibronectin type III domains of fibronectin (FNIII), specifically FNIII12-14, possess affinity towards a large number of growth factors. Here, we show that TNCIII5 binds growth factors promiscuously and with high affinity. We produced recombinant fragments of TNC representing the first five TNCIII repeats (TNCIII1-5), as well as subdomains, including TNCIII5, to study interactions with various growth factors. Multiple growth factors of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) family, the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family, the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, the insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGF-BPs), and neurotrophins were found to bind with high affinity to this region of TNC, specifically to TNCIII5. Surface plasmon resonance was performed to analyze the kinetics of binding of TNCIII1-5 with TGF-β1, PDGF-BB, NT-3, and FGF-2. The promiscuous yet high affinity of TNC for a wide array of growth factors, mediated mainly by TNCIII5, may play a role in multiple physiological and pathological processes involving TNC.

Engineered biomatrices offer the potential to recapitulate the regenerative microenvironment, with important implications in tissue repair. In this context, investigation of the molecular interactions occurring between growth factors, cytokines and extracellular matrix (ECM) has gained increasing interest. Here, we sought to investigate the possible interactions between the ECM proteins fibronectin (FN) and fibrinogen (Fg) with the CXCR3 ligands CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11, which are expressed during wound healing. New binding interactions were observed and characterized. Heparin-binding domains within Fg (residues 15-66 of the β chain, Fg β15-66) and FN (FNI1-5, but not FNIII12-14) were involved in binding to CXCL10 and CXCL11 but not CXCL9. To investigate a possible influence of FN and Fg interactions with CXCL11 in mediating its role during re-epithelialization, we investigated human keratinocyte migration in vitro and wound healing in vivo in diabetic db/db mice. A synergistic effect on CXCL11-induced keratinocyte migration was observed when cells were treated with CXCL11 in combination with FN in a transmigration assay. Moreover, wound healing was enhanced in full thickness excisional wounds treated with fibrin matrices functionalized with FN and containing CXCL11. These findings highlight the importance of the interactions occurring between cytokines and ECM and point to design concepts to develop functional matrices for regenerative medicine.

Nanoparticles have been extensively developed for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. While the focus of nanoparticle trafficking in vivo has traditionally been on drug delivery and organ-level biodistribution and clearance, recent work in cancer biology and infectious disease suggests that targeting different cells within a given organ can substantially affect the quality of the immunological response. Here, we examine the cell-level biodistribution kinetics after administering ultrasmall Pluronic-stabilized poly(propylene sulfide) nanoparticles in the mouse. These nanoparticles depend on lymphatic drainage to reach the lymph nodes and blood, and then enter the spleen rather than the liver, where they interact with monocytes, macrophages and myeloid dendritic cells. They were more readily taken up into lymphatics after intradermal (i.d.) compared to intramuscular administration, leading to ∼50% increased bioavailability in blood. When administered i.d., their distribution favored antigen-presenting cells, with especially strong targeting to myeloid cells. In tumor-bearing mice, the monocytic and the polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cell compartments were efficiently and preferentially targeted, rendering this nanoparticulate formulation potentially useful for reversing the highly suppressive activity of these cells in the tumor stroma.

BACKGROUND:The development of nanoparticulate antigen-delivery systems is an important emerging area of vaccinology, being sought to amplify immune responses to recombinant antigens that are poorly immunogenic. Nanoparticle size may play an important role in influencing the activity of such particulate-based adjuvants. METHODS:To explore how the size of nanoparticles that are in the range of many common viruses can modulate the magnitude and quality of mucosal immune responses, the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) was conjugated to 30 nm or 200 nm polypropylene sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) and administered intranasally to C57BL/6 mice. RESULTS:We show that by increasing the size of the NPs from 30 to 200 nm, OVA was more effectively delivered into both MHC class I and MHC class II-presentation pathways. Intranasal immunization with the 200 nm NPs increased the magnitude of CD4(+) T cell responses in the lungs, as well as systemic and mucosal humoral responses. Most importantly, 200 nm NPs increased the proportion of antigen-specific polyfunctional CD4(+) T cells as compared to 30 nm NPs. CONCLUSIONS:The 200 nm NPs are a very interesting antigen nanocarrier for prophylactic vaccines against mucosal pathogens that require multifunctional CD4(+) T cells for protection. These results contribute to our understanding of how the size of an antigen-conjugated nanoparticle modulates mucosal immune responses to a protein antigen and may be useful to engineer subunit vaccines able to elicit appropriate mucosal immune responses that correlate with protection.

We engineered an acellular biomimetic microenvironment to regulate stem cell fate and applied it to maintain mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell self-renewal. In the 3D environment formed using hydrogel scaffolds in which specific integrin ligation was provided, Stat3 activation by exogenous leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) no longer acted as a limiting factor for stem cell self-renewal. Instead, simultaneous stimulation of integrins α(5)β(1), α(v)β(5), α(6)β(1) and α(9)β(1) within the 3D scaffold greatly increased Akt1 and Smad 1/5/8 activation, which resulted in prolonged self-renewal of the ES cells. The ES cells exposed to the combined stimulation of the integrins for 4 wk in LIF-free 3D scaffolds maintained the spherical morphology of cell colonies without losing any activity of pluripotency. In conclusion, cell niche-specific integrin signaling within the 3D environment supported mouse ES cell self-renewal, and the resulting integrin signaling replaced Stat3 with Akt1 and Smad 1/5/8 as critical signals for mouse ES cell self-renewal.

Colloidal drug and prodrug conjugates have unique targeting characteristics for tumor vasculature from the blood and for the lymphatics draining a tissue injection site. Tioguanine and tioguanine-generating prodrugs have been investigated as anticancer and immunosuppressive agents, including use in cancer immunotherapy. Recently we developed block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol)-bl-poly(propylene sulfide) that self-assemble in aqueous solutions to form micellar structures. Since the polymers carry a free terminal thiol group resulting from the ring-opening polymerization of the propylene sulfide monomer, we sought to prepare prodrug block copolymers with tioguanine linked by a reduction-sensitive disulfide bond. The synthesis involved a disulfide exchange between the oxidized form of tioguanine and the polymer. Spectroscopic data is presented to support the proposed reaction. The polymers self-assembled when dispersed in water to form tioguanine prodrug micelles with a size range between 18 and 40 nm that released tioguanine in response to cysteine and serum as shown spectroscopically. In comparison with a poly(ethylene glycol) prodrug polymer, we show that the rate of tioguanine release can be controlled by changing the poly(propylene sulfide) block length and that the tioguanine remains bioactive with cultured cells.

Congenital malformations or injuries of the urethra can be treated using existing autologous tissue, but these procedures are sometimes associated with severe complications. Therefore, tissue engineering may be advantageous for generating urethral grafts. We evaluated engineered high-density collagen gel tubes as urethral grafts in 16 male New Zealand white rabbits. The constructs were either acellular or seeded with autologous smooth muscle cells, isolated from an open bladder biopsy. After the formation of a urethral defect by excision, the tissue-engineered grafts were interposed between the remaining urethral ends. No catheter was placed postoperatively. The animals were evaluated at 1 or 3 months by contrast urethrography and histological examination. Comparing the graft caliber to the control urethra at 3 months, a larger caliber was found in the cell-seeded grafts (96.6% of the normal caliber) than in the acellular grafts (42.3%). Histology of acellular and cell-seeded grafts did not show any sign of inflammation, and spontaneous regrowth of urothelium could be demonstrated in all grafts. Urethral fistulae, sometimes associated with stenosis, were observed, which might be prevented by urethral catheter application. High-density collagen gel tubes may be clinically useful as an effective treatment of congenital and acquired urethral pathologies.

We present an optical approach for intracellular delivery of molecules contained within oxidation-sensitive polymersomes. The photosensitizer ethyl eosin is associated with the polymersome membrane to oxidatively increase the hydrophilicity of the hydrophobic block under optical excitation. This optofluidic interaction induces rapid polymersome rupture and payload release via the reorganization of the aggregate structure into smaller diameter vesicles and micelles. When the particles are endocytosed by phagocytes, such as RAW macrophages and dendritic cells, the polymersomes' payload escapes the endosome and is released in the cell cytosol within a few seconds of illumination. The released payload is rapidly distributed throughout the cytosol within milliseconds. The presented optofluidic method enables fast delivery and distribution throughout the cytosol of individual cells, comparable to photochemical internalization, but a factor of 100 faster than similar carrier mediated delivery methods (e.g., liposomes, polymersomes, or nanoparticles). Due to the ability to simultaneously induce payload delivery and endosomal escape, this approach can find applications in detailed characterizations of intra- and intercellular processes. As an example in quantitative cell biology, a peptide antigen was delivered in dendritic cells and MHC I presentation kinetics were measured at the single cell and single complex level.

While current subunit vaccines successfully induce humoral immune responses, a need exists for vaccine strategies to elicit strong cell-mediated immunity to address diseases such as cancer and chronic viral infection. Polymersomes are stable vesicles composed of self-assembling block copolymers with tunable degradation properties allowing delivery of both hydrophilic (within vesicle interior) or hydrophobic (within vesicle membrane) payload molecules. Here we apply oxidation-sensitive nanoscale polymersomes for both antigen and adjuvant delivery to dendritic cell (DC) endosomes. Calcein-loaded polymersomes were observed to release their payload initially in multiple DC endosomal compartments and subsequently within the cytosol. With either the Toll-like receptor agonists gardiquimod or R848 as payloads within the polymersomes, release resulted in DC activation, as indicated by induction of inflammatory cytokine expression and upregulation of DC maturation surface markers: for example, the ability of gardiquimod to induce IL-6 and IL-12 cytokine expression by DCs was enhanced 10-fold when loaded within polymersomes. With the model antigen ovalbumin as a payload, release resulted in CD8(+) T cell cross-priming by promoting protein antigen cross-presentation through MHC I, as indicated by activation of OT-I CD8(+) T cells. Our results demonstrate that oxidation-sensitive polymersomes can function as a vaccine delivery platform for inducing cell-mediated antigen-specific immune responses.