CBE Seminar: Amy Peterson

Associate Professor, Department of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Polyelectrolyte Multilayers for Therapeutic Cell Expansion

 

Abstract

This presentation will describe investigations of processing-structure-property relationships in polymers and polymer composites, with a focus on engineering of polyelectrolyte complex and multilayer systems. Growth factors (GFs) act as biochemical cues for cells and, as such, are powerful tools for modulating cellular expansion, tissue regeneration, and cancer treatment. However, their application in biomedicine is challenging for reasons including cost, stability, and myriad potential negative outcomes when GF amount and release location are not optimized. Polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) have been designed for controlled release of proteins, for application in ex vivo therapeutic cell expansion. Chemistry and structure of the first layer can be used to control structures and properties of PEMs. Sustained release over relevant culture times can be tailored, and GF stability is maintained for at least 5 days through encapsulation in a PEM. A case study in scale up of production of PEM-coated microcarriers for expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in 3D bioreactors will be discussed, including 2D vs. 3D culture considerations, GF degradation kinetics, automation, process sensitivity, and qualification. 

Bio

Amy Peterson is an Associate Professor of Plastics Engineering at University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her research group studies processing-structure-property relationships in polymers and polymer composites, with a focus on interfacial phenomena in multilayered systems. She received her PhD in 2011 from Drexel University, where she was an NSF IGERT and Graduate Research Fellow. She was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces 2011-2013 and Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute 2013-2018.