Clemson University

Other

Musc Foundation for Research Development

Xuejun Wen

Vince Beachley

Ning Zhang

Vladimir A Mironov

Xiaowei Li

Yongzhi Qiu

Vibhor Krishna

Xing Jin

Vladimir A Kasyanov

The present invention provides methods of promoting the revascularization and/or reenervation of central nervous system lesions using an in-situ crosslinkable hydrogel. The present invention also provides methods of treating a spinal cord injury by topically delivering to the spinal cord injury site a vehicle comprising a neurotrophic factor and/or anti-inflammatory agent. Also provided are methods of treating a spinal cord injury by topically administering or delivering a hydrogel to the injury site.

Methods for promoting the revascularization and reenervation of CNS lesions

The present invention provides a synthetic cell culture platform, comprising: a two dimensional and/or three dimensional surface comprising peptides conjugated to said surface and methods of using the platform for increasing cell adhesion, stable attachment and/or proliferation of cells grown on the platform and for promoting differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons.

Methods and compositions for cell culture platform

Disclosed are methods of forming three dimensional arrays of aligned nanofibers in an open, loose structure of any desired depth. The arrays are formed according to an electrospinning process utilizing two parallel conducting plates to align the fibers and rotating tracks to distribute the fibers throughout the array. Arrays can be used as formed, for instance in tissue engineering applications as three dimensional scaffolding constructs. As-formed arrays can be combined with other materials to form a composite 3-D structure. For instance, composite polymeric materials can be electrospun to form composite nanofibers within the array. Multiple polymeric materials can be electrospun at different areas of the array to form a composite array including materially different nanofibers throughout the array. The arrays can be loaded with other fibrous or non-fibrous materials to form a composite array. Arrays can also be rolled to form a uniaxial fiber bundle.

Fabrication of three dimensional aligned nanofiber array

The present invention provides methods of promoting the revascularization and/or reenervation of central nervous system lesions using an in-situ crosslinkable hydrogel.

Disclosed are composite materials that can more closely mimic the mechanical characteristics of natural elastic tissue, such as vascular tissue. Disclosed materials include a combination of elastic nanofibers and non-elastic nanofibers. Also disclosed are a variety of methods for forming the composite materials. Formation methods generally include the utilization of electrospinning methods to form a fibrous composite construct including fibers of different mechanical characteristics.

Synthetic vascular tissue and method of forming same

Disclosed are a series of kneadable, pliable polymers for use in forming compositions that can be used as bone wax or as a cellular scaffold. Polymers can include a polysaccharide backbone and can be biocompatible and thrombogenic. In addition, the compositions can be osteoconductive as well as biodegradable. The disclosed compositions can be used to help control bleeding from bone surfaces as well as to promote bone regeneration and fusion. The compositions can inhibit the growth of microorganisms in implantation sites and can be loaded with additional bioactive agents to further promote healing and infection prevention.

Growing community of inventors

Charleston, SC, United States of America

Xuejun Wen