Congratulations to the Lab of William Polacheck, Ph.D., an MHI member and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Member, Cell Biology and Physiology Curriculum, UNC Medicine; Member, Comparative Medicine Institute, NCSU, for publishing on the development of patient cell-derived matrix for vascular disease modeling in Acta Biomaterialia.
For this manuscript, titled “Patient-derived extracellular matrix demonstrates role of COL3A1 in blood vessel mechanics”, Elizabeth Doherty, a graduate student and IVB trainee in the Polacheck Lab, led a highly multidisciplinary effort to characterize how genetic mutations that cause vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome contribute to changes in the extracellular matrix that drive the disease. In seeking to better understand the role of collagen III in health and disease, Elizabeth and colleagues developed techniques for growing and isolating extracellular matrix from patient donor fibroblasts. The team then characterized the biochemical, biophysical, and functional properties of the matrix and identified new drug targets for the treatment of vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. The work will be featured in the 1 July 2023, Volume 164, issue of the journal Acta Biomaterialia and can be read online now.