This NSF CAREER award by the Biotechnology, Biochemical and Biomass Engineering program supports the creation of an advanced 3D tissue model that can be used for testing and studying human allergic inflammatory responses. Over the last few decades, the prevalence of allergic diseases has increased dramatically in developed nations. Due to some limitations of animal and human models for the study of cellular and molecular responses to inflammatory stimuli, allergy research and testing would benefit greatly from the use of a tissue model that includes human immune cells, ancillary cells, and a blood endothelium in a physiological microenvironment. The goals of the proposed project are to address this need through (1) the creation of a tissue-equivalent model that can exhibit an inflammatory response to allergens and (2) the use of this model to study the role that mast cells play in shaping the adaptive immune response to allergens. To accomplish the goals for this project, the knowledge and experience gained from an existing endothelial cell construct will be used to create a new 3D tissue equivalent model that includes a supportive biocompatible micro-environment for a wide variety of cells to proliferate, differentiate, and migrate in a manner that recapitulates an allergic inflammatory response. The tissue-equivalent model can be comprised of patient-specific cells in order to function as an allergy sensor to detect specific biomarkers that are expressed during an allergic inflammatory reaction.
Broader Impacts of this project include a new way to test allergens and other inflammatory stimuli, and evaluate site specific delivery of active compounds to alter the local inflammatory and immune response. This research project has the potential to provide health care providers with more information that can be used to better manage patients with allergic diseases, and a better understanding of inflammation in a broader sense. Such an aggressive approach could change the way immunotherapies are tested, perceived, and developed against diseases associated with inflammation.
Women and minority involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a centerpiece of the proposed education plan. The goal is to increase awareness and interest in STEM fields among women and Native Americans by early scientific socialization and creating new mentoring relationships that have been proven to enhance minority recruitment and retention. To support early scientific socialization, an online bioengineering research experience for high school students will demonstrate how basic course content can be applied to scientific research and development. To foster mentoring relationships, graduate students will interact with the high school students in person and through online content. Graduate and undergraduate students will participate in the proposed research and will acquire a transdisciplinary experience in both immunology and engineering. A new graduate course in transport phenomena in biological systems will support the growing student interest in bioengineering at Oklahoma State University and provide a transdisciplinary experience.
