Browsing by Author "Cuchiara, Maude L."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    AMP v. Myriad Genetics: Gene Patents, Patenting Life, and the Impact on US Stem Cell Research
    (2013) Matthews, Kirstin R.W.; Cuchiara, Maude L.; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
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    Fabrication and Mechanical Evaluation of Anatomically-Inspired Quasilaminate Hydrogel Structures with Layer-Specific Formulations
    (Springer, 2012) Tseng, Hubert; Cuchiara, Maude L.; Durst, Christopher A.; Cuchiara, Michael P.; Lin, Chris J.; West, Jennifer L.; Grande-Allen, K. Jane; Bioengineering
    A major tissue engineering challenge is the creation of multilaminate scaffolds with layer-specific mechanical properties representative of native tissues, such as heart valve leaflets, blood vessels, and cartilage. For this purpose, poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogels are attractive materials due to their tunable mechanical and biological properties. This study explored the fabrication of trilayer hydrogel quasilaminates. A novel sandwich method was devised to create quasilaminates with layers of varying stiffnesses. The trilayer structure was comprised of two "stiff" outer layers and one "soft" inner layer. Tensile testing of bilayer quasilaminates demonstrated that these scaffolds do not fail at the interface. Flexural testing showed that the bending modulus of acellular quasilaminates fell between the bending moduli of the "stiff" and "soft" hydrogel layers. The bending modulus and swelling of trilayer scaffolds with the same formulations were not significantly different than single layer gels of the same formulation. The encapsulation of cells and the addition of phenol red within the hydrogel layers decreased bending modulus of the trilayer scaffolds. The data presented demonstrates that this fabrication method can make quasilaminates with robust interfaces, integrating layers of different mechanical properties and biofunctionalization, and thus forming the foundation for a multilaminate scaffold that more accurately represents native tissue.
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    Gene patents, patenting life and the impact of court rulings on US stem cell patents and research
    (Future Medicine Ltd, 2014) Matthews, Kirstin R.W.; Cuchiara, Maude L.; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
    In June 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that naturally occurring genes were unpatentable in the caseﾠAssociation for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. Up until this decision, Myriad Genetics was the only company in the USA that could legally conduct diagnostic testing forﾠBRCA1ﾠandﾠ2, genes that are linked to familial breast and ovarian cancer. The court case and rulings garnered discussion in public about patenting biological materials. This paper will describe the progression of the Myriad Genetics case, similar US rulings and biological intellectual property policies. In addition, it will discuss the impact of the case on biological patents ﾖ specifically those for human embryonic stem cells.
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    How Should the National Football League Tackle Unproven Stem Cell Treatments?
    (James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, 2014) Matthews, Kirstin R.W.; Cuchiara, Maude L.; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
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    Integrating valve-inspired design features into poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel scaffolds for heart valve tissue engineering
    (Elsevier, 2015) Zhang, Xing; Xu, Bin; Puperi, Daniel S.; Yonezawa, Aline L.; Wu, Yan; Tseng, Hubert; Cuchiara, Maude L.; West, Jennifer L.; Grande-Allen, K. Jane; Bioengineering
    The development of advanced scaffolds that recapitulate the anisotropic mechanical behavior and biological functions of the extracellular matrix in leaflets would be transformative for heart valve tissue engineering. In this study, anisotropic mechanical properties were established in poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels by crosslinking stripes of 3.4 kDa PEG diacrylate (PEGDA) within 20 kDa PEGDA base hydrogels using a photolithographic patterning method. Varying the stripe width and spacing resulted in a tensile elastic modulus parallel to the stripes that was 4.1-6.8 times greater than that in the perpendicular direction, comparable to the degree of anisotropy between the circumferential and radial orientations in native valve leaflets. Biomimetic PEG-peptide hydrogels were prepared by tethering the cell-adhesive peptide RGDS and incorporating the collagenase-degradable peptide PQ (GGGPQG↓IWGQGK) into the polymer network. The specific amounts of RGDS and PEG-PQ within the resulting hydrogels influenced the elongation, de novo extracellular matrix deposition and hydrogel degradation behavior of encapsulated valvular interstitial cells (VICs). In addition, the morphology and activation of VICs grown atop PEG hydrogels could be modulated by controlling the concentration or micro-patterning profile of PEG-RGDS. These results are promising for the fabrication of PEG-based hydrogels using anatomically and biologically inspired scaffold design features for heart valve tissue engineering.
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    Should ads featuring athletes promoting unproven stem cell treatments at for-profit clinics be subject to oversight?
    (2015) Matthews, Kirstin R.W.; Cuchiara, Maude L.; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy