Engineering "user-friendly" tissues

Assistant Professor Weiyuan Kao's research is helping to improve tissue-engineered products. (25K JPG)

Although scientists already have manufactured artificial skin, cartilage and bone, and are close to perfecting the first artificial heart, they are still looking for ways to improve how those engineered tissues interact with the body. "A lot of the time, these devices are not working because the body has a way of defending itself from these foreign objects," says Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor Weiyuan John Kao. "If we want to improve these devices, first we have to understand what the body is doing."

Inflammation is one way the body interacts with foreign substances, he says. Collaborating with researchers in engineering, medicine and cell biology, Kao examines the body-biomaterial interaction at the molecular level, focusing on the fundamentals of inflammation. By learning how cells adhere to and activate on a tissue-engineered product on the molecular level, he mimics the interaction between host cells and material surfaces covered with proteins. Cells and proteins are basic means by which the body interacts with biomaterials such as artificial skin or organs.

Via this "biomimetism," Kao hopes to increase his understanding of designing advanced biomaterials. Ultimately that understanding will improve healthcare by enhancing the effectiveness of biomedical implants and tissue-engineered products.