Nanofiber Micropatterns for Controlled Release of Biomolecules

Essential to growing or regenerating 3-dimensional tissues is the formation of functional microcirculation that provides nutrients, oxygen and signal molecules for tissue survival and function regeneration. In the past decade, molecule-based microvascular formation has been achieved in vitro and in vivo. However, direct delivery of angiogenic molecules often results in malformed hyperpermeable microvessels, microvessels with low density. This can be attributed to the lack of effective molecule mechanisms that regulate vascular formation. More recent studies utilize biodegradable materials to control the delivery of biomolecules for vascularization of engineered or ischemic tissues, and exciting results have shown the importance of molecule kinetics to the vascular formation. Molecule delivery mechanisms that mimic precisely-regulated spatiotemporal signaling events during natural vascularization may be a possible way to improve or optimize the process. Hence, this study is designed to develop a new release system capable of degrading in the body and releasing biomolecules in a spatiotemporally controlled manner.