Events Calendar

Seminar in Biomedical Engineering

Speaker: Hunghao Chu, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MIT

Talk Title: Controlled delivery of growth factors using heparin-based coacervates

Abstract: Controlled delivery of growth factors using heparin-based coacervates
Hunghao Chu, Ph.D.
Abstract
Growth factors participating in a variety of biological processes have great potential in regenerative medicine. However, unprotected growth factors degrade quickly in the body and have little efficacy at tissue repair. Delivery of growth factors with different vehicles has been examined to prolong the half-lives of growth factors and therefore increase their therapeutic efficacy. After decades of research, controlled delivery of growth factors still faces some challenges that need to be addressed properly. In my presentation, I will introduce a heparin-based coacervate platform developed for controlled release of heparin-binding growth factors. Heparin, a highly sulfated macromolecule, is used as an anticoagulant clinically. In addition, it has high affinity to a large number of biomolecules, including many growth factors. The interaction between heparin and heparin-binding growth factors is known to adjust their conformation, protect them from proteolytic degradation and regulate their activities. Incorporation of heparin in a delivery vehicle is consequently a strategy to potentiate the bioactivity of growth factors. Different from most delivery strategies employing covalent modification to immobilize heparin, we utilize a synthetic polycation to complex with heparin and form the injectable coacervate. Our experimental finding reveals several advantages of this approach: (i) the delivery vehicle itself being biocompatible and biodegradable does not trigger local or systemic toxicity. (ii) The coacervate protects growth factors from degradation and controls their release in a steady and adjustable fashion. (iii) In a mouse study, fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) delivered by the coacervate (a.k.a FGF2 coacervate) generates more blood vessels than bolus FGF2, which suggests that its bioactivity is significantly enhanced. (iv) In a mouse model mimicking human myocardial infarction, we demonstrate that FGF2 coacervate achieves better therapeutic effects than bolus FGF2 by comparison of cardiac structure, blood vessel density, inflammation, fibrosis and cardiac contractility.
Biosketch
Hunghao Chu is currently a postdoctoral associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston’s Children’s Hospital. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from National Taiwan University, M.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology from National Tsing Hua University and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from University of Pittsburgh. His research interests mainly lie in protein- and RNA-based therapeutics. During his Ph.D. study, he worked under the guidance of Prof. Yadong Wang in Biomaterials Foundry and investigated controlled delivery of growth factors in an animal model of myocardial infarction. His dissertation “A coacervate-based platform for growth factor delivery” led to the patented technology and several peer-reviewed publications. His research has also been featured by many prestigious awards including the first place of Randall Family Big Idea Competition and the travel scholarship from Society for Biomaterials. His postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Daniel Kohane and Prof. Robert Langer focuses on a biomimetic strategy to improve efficacy of mRNA therapeutic agents.


Host: Stanley Yamashiro

Location: OHE 122

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta