Page 24 - Gates-AnnualReport-2019

Jeffrey Jacot, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering
In this article, Dr. Jacot and colleagues show that an engineered cardiogenic material can be implanted to replace part of the heart wall in a rat and provides better heart function than commercial patches (Tao et al., Acta Biomaterialia, 2019).
Kenneth Liechty, M.D., Professor, Department of Surgery
Dr. Liechty and colleagues report that the use of cerium oxide nanoparticles conjugated with microRNA-146a can correct impaired wound healing in diabetic wounds (Zgheib, et al., J Am Coll Surg, 2019).
Traci Lyons, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Dr. Lyons and colleagues (see photo) reveal that immunosuppression during postpartum involution is mediated by PD-L1 expression on lymphatic endothelial cells and macrophages and PD-1 expression on T-cells (Tamburini et al., Frontiers in Immunology, 2019). Using PD-1 blockade during involution, they reveal that the tumor promotional effects of postpartum involution are due in large part to this mechanism of immune suppression.
Chelsea Magin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Ganna Bilousova, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology
In this manuscript, Drs. Magin and Bilousova optimize hydrogel biomaterials to better maintain human skin cells in culture outside of the body for longer periods of time (Davis-Hall et al., Advanced Biosystems, 2019). These materials have the potential to improve the number of cells available for high-impact research in regenerative medicine.
Ram Nagaraj, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Ophthalmology
In this paper, Dr. Nagaraj and colleagues tested a product, developed in their own laboratory named Peptain-1, for its ability to prevent retinal ganglion cell death in two animal models for glaucoma (Stankowska et al., Cell Death and Discovery, 2019). In both models, they find that Peptain-1 can efficiently prevent ganglion cell death. They were able to duplicate these findings in cultured retina and retinal ganglion cells that were exposed to glaucoma-related stress.
Lee Niswander, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular,
and Developmental Biology, CU Boulder
Dr. Niswander and colleagues report the development and testing in an animal model of a hydrogel that can be injected into the uterus and used to protect delicate neural tissue in the case of the neural tube defect spina bifida (Bardill et al., Journal of Surgical Research, 2019).
Karin Payne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedics Ganna Bilousova, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology
In this study, Drs. Payne and Bilousova and their colleagues evaluated chondrogenesis of induced pluripotent mesenchymal progenitor cells (iPS-MPs) encapsulated in a cartilage-mimetic hydrogel under different culture conditions: free swelling versus dynamic compressive loading and different growth factors (TGFβ3 and/or BMP2) (Aisenbrey et al., Biomater Sci, 2019). These authors report a promising cartilage-mimetic hydrogel for iPS-MPs that when combined with appropriate biochemical and mechanical cues induces a stable chondrogenic phenotype.
Traci Lyons, Ph.D. and her lab
24 Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine