MSE Special Seminar: Dr. Jiajia Xue, Electrospun Nanofibers for Peripheral Nerve Repair and Guided Tissue Regeneration

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract

Electrospinning is a versatile and viable technique for generating ultrathin fibers with diversified compositions, structures, and properties. Electrospun nanofibers have found widespread use in a variety of biomedical applications. Specifically, owing to their unique ability to recapitulate the composition, length scale, and architecture of native extracellular matrix, electrospun nanofibers have been extensively explored as a class of scaffolding materials for the repair or regeneration of various types of tissues. In this seminar, as one typical example, I will present the utilization of electrospun nanofibers to construct tissue engineered-nerve guidance conduits for the repair of thick peripheral nerves with large defects. Specifically, a multi-tubular conduit with a honeycomb structure is designed to serve as a biocompatible and biodegradable matrix for differentiating bone marrow stem cells into Schwann-like cells to promote the nerve regeneration. In addition, a temperature-regulated system is developed by integrating microparticles of phase-change materials with electrospun fiber scaffolds for near-infrared-triggered release of biological effectors to promote the neurite outgrowth. The efficacy of the conduit to repair the peripheral nerve injury have been demonstrated in the rat and ovine models. As another typical example, I will also present the utilization of electrospun nanofibers for constructing anti-infective guided tissue/bone regeneration membranes through a rational design of the composition of the nanofiber matrices and the manner of drug delivery. Overall, this work presents the new design of electrospun nanofiber-based scaffolding materials for peripheral nerve repair and guided tissue/bone regeneration.

Bio

Dr. Jiajia Xue is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She earned her B.S. and Ph.D. both in Materials Science and Engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in China under the guidance of Prof. Liqun Zhang. Her Ph.D. research focused on the development of nanomaterials and scaffolds based on nanofibers and elastomeric nanocomposites for tissue engineering and drug delivery. In Professor Younan Xia's group at Georgia Tech, she is focused on the development of engineering approaches by combining materials science with biology to control the migration and/or differentiation of cells and on-demand drug release for nerve repair and wound healing, as well as the construction of cardiac patches based on electrospun nanofibers. Dr. Xue has over 30 publications in high-impact journals, including Chemical Reviews, Accounts of Chemical research, Angew Chem, ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, and Biomaterials.