Date: March 29th, 2016

Time: 4:00 PM

Location: Emory University, WMB 7115

Thesis Committee:

Young-Sup Yoon, MD, PhD (Thesis Advisor)

Andres Garcia, PhD

Manu Platt, PhD

Changwon Park, PhD

Ho-Wook Jun, PhD

Title: Increased engraftment of highly angiogenic CD31+ cell subpopulations through encapsulation in a self-assembled nanomatrix gel

Abstract: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 5.9% of adults ≥ 40 years of age, remaining largely undetected and progresses into critical limb ischemia (CLI), a state of unrelenting rest pain and ulceration.  PreviousFor patients without revascularization options, amputation and mortality rates are roughly 40% and 20%, respectively.  Our laboratory is proposing to develop a novel cell therapy using highly angiogenic peripheral blood (PB) derived CD31⁺ cell subpopulations combined with self-assembled peptide amphiphile (PA) nanomatrix gels for treating CLI. Current cell therapies suffer from contamination with inhibitory cell types, undefined isolation methods, and/or low engraftment and retention. To address this, we will analyze various PB-CD31⁺ cell subpopulations for their lineage composition and contribution to revascularization. Futhermore, Self-assembled nanomatrix gels have also been shown to provide a cyotprotective niche and increase cellular retention after transplantation. We hypothesize that the various regenerative effects of CD31+ cells can be discreetly delineated through CD14 expression and encapsulation in PA nanomatrix gels will increase retention and viabiliy of cells when injected into ischemic mouse hind limbs. The combination of highly angiogenic PB-CD31⁺CD14^- cells and PA nanomatrix hydrogels will provide a readily available, effective alternative therapy for CLI patients currently without treatment options. Information obtained in this study will likely impact the development of future cellular therapies for multiple cardiovascular diseases.