Bonassar Lab alum Dr. Nizeet Aguilar recently had her manuscript “Customized Biomaterials to Augment Chondrocyte Gene Therapy” accepted by the journal Acta Biomateriala. The paper describes the development of a modified alginate biomaterial designed to bind insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). This material was designed to work synergistically with chondrocytes transfected to overexpress IGF-I, enabling control of both the production and availability of the growth factor. This combined approach proved highly effective, enhancing matrix production by chondrocytes by almost 20-fold. This work was conducted collaboration with Drs. Stephen Trippel and Shuiliang Shi, both of the Indiana School of Medicine, where Dr. Aguilar is pursuing her postdoctoral studies. Congratulations, Nizeet!
