Heterogeneous Heparin Presentation in Microporous Annealed Particle Scaffolds Modulates Directed Cell Migration 9 views

Effective tissue integration of biomaterial scaffolds requires coordinated cellular infiltration driven by gradients of immobilized and soluble migration cues. This is particularly critical in impaired wound healing, where native tissue architecture and endogenous migratory cues are disrupted or lost. Incorporating bioactive signals into hydrogel scaffolds to direct cell migration is a common strategy to promote biomaterial-tissue integration. However, replicating the heterogeneous spatial presentation of these cues characteristic of native extracellular matrix remains a central challenge in translational scaffold design. Synthetic hydrogel systems are commonly functionalized through covalent immobilization of adhesion motifs or uniform exogenous delivery of soluble growth factors, but these approaches fail to replicate the spatially organized, affinity-based growth factor presentation that governs directed cell migration in native tissue. Incorporation of heparin—a negatively charged glycosaminoglycan that l

PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)

biomaterials; cell migration; heparin

English

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2026-04-24