Dr. Nizeet Aguilar Publishes an Article in Acta Biomaterialia

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!

Alexander Jacob Boys