University of Delaware

William Marsh Rice University

Mary C Farach-Carson

Daniel D Carson

Xinqiao Jia

Jeffrey B Safran

Ronald Gomes

Margaret French

Scott C Malcolm

Amit Kumar Jha

Douglass F Taber

Daniel A Harrington

Swati Pradham Bhatt

Catherine E Safran

Rupert Timpl

Robert L Witt

Padma P Srinivasan

Yihuan Xu

Implantable modular hydrogels to aid in salivary gland restoration and associated methods are provided. In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides for a hydrogel network comprising: a hyaluronic acid macromer crosslinked with a multiblock copolymer.

Implantable modular hydrogel for salivary gland restoration

A method for enhancing chondrogenesis in a subject in need thereof comprises administering to the subject an effective amount of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a growth factor bound to hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel particles (HGPs). The hyaluronic acid (HA)-based hydrogel particles (HGPs) are conjugated with a heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG). Related medicaments and methods for preparing the medicaments are provided.

Injectable delivery system for heparan-binding growth factors

A method for the detection in a body fluid of perlecan polypeptide fragments that are biomarkers of tumor metastasis, and antibodies for detecting these fragments are described. An immunoassay kit for detecting the presence of these biomarkers in a body fluid, such as serum or urine, is also described.

Perlecan fragments as biomarkers of bone stromal lysis

Implantable devices for adhering eukaryotic cells and devices providing a substrate for eukaryotic cell growth and/or differentiation in vitro are described. Each device comprises a scaffold that is coated with a protein comprising an adhesive polypeptide that has at least 90% sequence identity to a specific peptide sequence within domain IV of perlecan. The devices adhere epithelial cells, epithelial stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and osteoblasts.

Bioactive peptide for cell adhesion

A device comprising a scaffold coated with a protein having at least 83% identity to the amino acid sequence of the core protein of domain I of a mammalian perlecan, wherein at least one glycosaminoglycan is attached to the protein is described. The device may be used in vitro or in vivo to induce replication and/or differentiation of connective tissue cells and to repair tissue.

Delivery system for heparin-binding growth factors

The invention is directed to a polypeptide derived from domain IV of the extracellular matrix protein perlecan that can selectively adhere cells, nucleic acids encoding the inventive polypeptide, vectors comprising the nucleic acids, devices comprising a scaffold coated with the inventive polypeptide, and methods of adhering cells to a scaffold using the inventive polypeptide.

New uses of proteoglycans to bind and present growth factors, methods of accelerating wound, tissue or bone repair using such proteoglycans, pharmaceutical compositions of such proteoglycans, and scaffolds coated with such proteoglycans are disclosed. The proteoglycan of the invention is derived from domain I or perlecan.

The invention provides methods of downregulating mRNA encoding osteopontin comprising administering to a cell or mammal an amount of astrogorgiadiol effective to downregulate production of mRNA encoding osteopontin. The invention also provides methods of treating osteoporosis and autoimmune disease comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of astrogorgiadiol. Pharmaceutical compositions comprising astrogorgiadiol and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent are also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Mary C Farach-Carson