Development of New Scaffold Materials for Vascularized Engineered Tissues

Another focus of our work is to develop and characterize a new hydrogel derived from self-assembling peptides that may be used for tissue engineering. These hydrogels are composed of short oligopeptides containing alternating sequences of hydrophobic and hydrophilic residues. These oligopeptides form beta strands that assemble into beta-pleated sheets and ultimately into a three-dimensional network. We are developing models that simulate the process by which the sheets assemble into networks of beta-sheet filaments that have a hydrophobic core. In addition, we are studying hydrogel monomers in solution to characterize the step-wise process by which they self-assemble into complex structures. These processes are particularly important in developing hydrogels for application in vascularized engineered tissues.