Anne George

Brodie Tooth Development Genetics & Regenerative Medicine Research Laboratory, Department of Oral Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612

Bone and dentin are mineralized hard tissues. The primary inorganic component is crystalline hydroxyapatite and type I collagen forms the template for mineral deposition. Tissue engineering strategies using novel biomaterials have emerged as a promising potential for treatment of mineralization defects. A key functional property is that biomaterials need to be cell-compatible and mimic the dynamic nature of the extracellular matrix. Novel biomaterials that are currently being developed are protein-engineered biomaterials that would mimic the ECM environment of cells. Recently, peptide-based engineered hydrogel scaffolds have been developed and they present several advantages over traditional protein scaffolds. The control over hydrogel properties can be easily manipulated and tailored to the requirement of the tissue. Biomaterials generated by the self-assembly process have varied applications as it mimics nature’s method of material synthesis. Therefore, concepts of synthesizing biomaterials can be adapted from nature for constructing useful biomaterials for hard tissue regeneration.

This study was supported by NIH DE 11657 and the Brodie Endowment Fund