Project R-13370

Design of dynamic hydrogel carriers for stem cell delivery to the heart (Research)

A heart attack leads to irreversible damage to the heart muscle. Current treatment methods mainly focus on the prevention of secondary infarcts and do not replace the lost cells. Consequently, a myocardial infarction often initiates a pathway leading to cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure. New stem cell therapies are under development, but are inhibited by the limited retention of these cells at the infarct site, which means that the majority of injected cells do not have ample time to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. Injectable hydrogels offer an elegant approach to increase stem cell retention. This project focuses on the development of elastin-like proteins that, in combination with oxidized hyaluronic acid, form dynamic networks. By combining both a protein and a carbohydrate component, the hydrogels will resemble the composition of the native extracellular matrix. The hydrogel network will be formed by reaction between aldehydes and hydrazines. In this reaction, reversible hydrazone bonds are formed that cause the materials to increase cell retention without impeding injectability. Moreover, by incorporating bioactive domains, the interaction with the encapsulated cells and the surrounding tissue will be improved. The physicochemical and biological properties of the hydrogels will be studied in detail in experiments mimicking their application as stem cell delivery vehicles.

16 November 2022 - 15 November 2026