Identifier

220

Date

2022

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Major

Biomedical Engineering

Committee Chair

Gary L. Bowlin

Abstract

Our knowledge regarding neutrophil response to biomaterials is still limited. In this study, we classified neutrophil degradation into four physiological states, with the final stage being the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs or NETosis). Quantifications of these neutrophil physiological states of degradation were evaluated in response to collagen (COL) and polydioxanone (PDO) electrospun templates with target diameters of 0.4-0.6µm for small diameter (SD) and 1.5-2.0µm for large diameter (LD). Following results found in preliminary research, it was hypothesized that COL, a natural polymer, would induce a less traumatic neutrophil response compared to PDO, a synthetic polymer. Neutrophils were isolated according to protocol, and their in vitro responses to the electrospun biomaterials were evaluated at 4- and 8-hour time points using fluorescent imaging. Neutrophils were classified into the four physiological stages of degradation and quantified. In this preliminary data (n=5 for 3 biological replicates), neither COL nor PDO electrospun biomaterial were shown to cause a statistically significant difference in neutrophil response. However, it was seen that variation in fiber diameter caused a significant difference in neutrophil degradation stages, with LD fibers producing a less traumatic neutrophil response than SD fibers for both natural and synthetic polymers. While this research was not successful in its primary objective of demonstrating the viability of deconvolved z-stack imaging to evaluate neutrophil response, meaningful data was still collected to showed that larger fiber diameter polymers may be more biocompatible than smaller fiber diameter polymers. Further work using deconvolved z-stack imaging or additional sample groups will produce more meaningful data to impact the next generation of regeneration templates.

Comments

Undergraduate Honor's Thesis

Library Comment

Honors thesis originally submitted to the Local University of Memphis Honor’s Thesis Repository.

Notes

Data is provided by the student.

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