Assembly of Biomaterials in Multiphase Liquid Systems

This research will develop strategies for building models of biological tissues in the laboratory. My laboratory will use sets of water-based materials that spontaneously separate from one another (much like oil and water mixtures) to confine the biological components required to build these models and organize them into useful configurations. The unique properties of these systems will eliminate practical constraints imposed by machine-based approaches. An essential step to achieving this long term goal will be to identify useful materials that display separation and assembly behavior. To identify these materials, a variety of synthetic and natural polymers will be screened to select systems with multiple separate zones (phases) that promote the arrangement (self-assembly) of tissue building-blocks. These systems will be used to build models of tissue interfaces, for example, the regions in the body where the muscular and the skeletal system meet and the various tissues of the body that serve as barriers (for example, the skin and gut). This technology will lead to the development of better models for understanding biological processes and pharmaceutical/toxin testing.