Rising Star Presentation: Dr. Jennifer Puetzer

Using Mechanobiology to Drive Hierarchical Collagen Fiber Formation for Functional Musculoskeletal Repair

ABSTRACT

Collagen fibers are the primary source of strength in tissues throughout the body, particularly musculoskeletal menisci, tendons, and ligaments. However, these fibers are not recreated after injury, nor in engineered replacements, creating a lack of repair options. It is reported that 50% of individuals over the age of 18 and 75% over the age of 65 will suffer a musculoskeletal injury, resulting in over 1.4 million surgeries a year in the United States. Engineers are striving to create replacements for these tissues; however, these attempts often fail to create sufficient collagen, let alone the organized collagen, essential to long-term mechanical success. My group has developed a system that guides cells using mechanical cues to produce some of the largest and most organized collagen fibers to date. In this talk, I will discuss how we use developmental-inspired mechanical cues to further drive collagen fiber formation and bone integration in this system to develop functional musculoskeletal replacements. Further, I will discuss how we have started using this system to unravel the mechanotransduction pathways involved in hierarchical fiber formation. Our ultimate goal is to drive hierarchical collagen organization in both engineered tissues and in vivo after injury, to replace and repair musculoskeletal tissues in aged and inflammatory environments.