Stem Cells and Neovascularization in Tissue Engineering

In the last few decades, significant advancements in the biology and engineering of stem cells have enabled progress in their clinical application to revascularization therapies. Some strategies involve the mobilization of endogenous stem cell populations, and others employ cell transplantation. However, both techniques have benefited from multidisciplinary efforts to create biomaterials and other biomedical tools that can improve and control the fate of stem cells, and advance our understanding of them.

Stem Cells and Revascularization Therapies focuses on the fundamentals and applied studies in stem cell biology, and provides perspectives associated with the development of revascularization strategies. To help readers understand the multidisciplinary issues associated with this topic, this book has been divided into four sections:

• Section 1: Explores how to define, isolate, and characterize various stem and progenitor cell populations for neovascularization
• Section 2: Summarizes some especially useful model systems and approaches used to regulate angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and arteriogenesis, and explores their impact on formation of functional vessels in vivo
• Section 3: Focuses on stem cell homing to sites of injury and inflammation, as well as strategies to exploit this mobilization phenomenon
• Section 4: Covers stem cell transplantation topics, including recreating features of endogenous stem cell niches to maintain the multipotency of transplanted cells and combinatorial delivery of cells and molecular factors

Intended to inspire new contributions to improve the therapeutic efficacy, Stem Cells and Revascularization Therapies outlines emergent findings and challenges regarding the use of stem cells in revascularization therapies. Overcoming the significant hurdles to our understanding of stem cell biology will enhance their utility in promoting new blood vessel formation.

Andrew Putnam is an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He obtained his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in 1994, M.S.E. (1996) and Ph.D. (2001) degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and completed post-doctoral training in Cell Biology at the Van Andel Institute. Dr. Putnam began his independent academic career at the University of California Irvine in January 2003, where he remained until relocating to Michigan in July 2009. Dr. Putnam’s research focuses on the interface between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), with a particular emphasis on the role of matrix compliance (i.e., stiffness) and matrix remodeling during neovascularization. Fundamental insights gained from this research are used to design instructive materials that mimic the ECM for applications in regenerative medicine and as model systems for studying disease.

Lawrence B. Schook is Vice President for Research for the University of Illinois and serves as the Director of the Division of Biomedical Sciences (DBS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research focuses on genetic resistance to disease, regenerative medicine, and using genomics to create animal models for biomedical research. Schook is a Professor of Animal Sciences, Bioengineering, Pathobiology, Nutritional Sciences, Pathology and Surgery. Dr. Schook is also a Professor at the Institute for Genomic Biology and holds Affiliate Faculty appointments at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. He formerly served as the Theme Leader for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering at the Institute for Genomic Biology.
Dr. Schook attended Albion College and received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Wayne State School of Medicine. After postdoctoral training at the Institute for Clinical Immunology in Switzerland and the University of Michigan, he has held faculty positions at the Medical College of Virginia, University of Minnesota and is a visiting Professor at the Ludwig Cancer Center of the University Lausanne. A recipient of NIH, Swiss National Fund and Pardee Fellowships, he was named a UIUC University Scholar, received the Funk Award for Meritorious Achievements in Agriculture, an H. H. Mitchell Award for Graduate Teaching and Research, Pfizer Animal Health Research Award, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was appointed a Fellow at the National Center for Supercomputer Applications and the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Dr. Schook is also the recipient of a Fulbright Distinguished Chair Fellowship (Human Genetics and Genomics) at the University of Salzburg and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Albion College. His scholarly activities include over 200 publications and 6 edited books and he is the founding editor of Animal Biotechnology.

Hyunjoon Kong is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He also holds affiliations with the Department of Bioengineering, Center for Biophysics, and Computational Biology and Neuroscience Program. He received his engineering education from the University of Michigan (Ph.D. 2001), and performed post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan and Harvard University. He joined the University of Illinois in 2007. His current research is focused on the design of biomaterials used for regeneration of microvascular networks.