Search Results - gregory+tew

This technology, developed by a team of polymer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, provides a versatile and simple method for producing highly resilient synthetic hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties comparable to the most efficient, naturally occurring elastic protein called resilin. The method involves the use of photo-initiated crosslinking reaction of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers having reactive end-groups in the presence of a tetra-functional thiol cross-linker. The resultant resilient hydrogels possess network elements of resilin, including a uniform network structure, low crosslink density, and an absence of secondary structures within the crosslinked primary chains. These hydrogels are capable of undergoing significant reversible deformation without energy loss (?97% resilience) at varying water content and show negligible hysteresis across a broad range of strains up to 300%. The swelling capacity, stiffness and fracture toughness of the hydrogels can be easily tuned by controlling the volume fractions of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers to tailor the hydrogels to the specific needs of end-use applications. Current studies have focused on material elements common in extended wear contact lenses.

Regulatory T cells maintain immunological tolerance and dampen inflammatory responses. Administering regulatory T cells can prevent the immune-mediated tissue destruction of graft-versus-host disease, which frequently accompanies hematopoietic stem cell transfer. This technology provides a simple and effective method to generate and expand a unique population of stable and highly suppressive regulatory T cells, which can be used as a cell-based therapy for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease.

A team of innovative polymer scientists lead by Dr. Gregory N. Tew at University of Massachusetts Amherst has designed and developed a new class of synthetic polymers, called protein transduction domain mimics (PTDMs), for applications in pharmaceutical delivery and disease diagnosis. These novel polymers are synthetic mimics of protein transduction domains (PTDs), and are designed to mimic and improve the biological activity of PTDs. They can be readily synthesized and transport across lipid bilayers with efficiencies significantly better than their natural peptide analogs. Their rich chemical diversity and structural tunability allow for highly efficient delivery of many different cargos, such as DNA, siRNA and proteins, into a variety of cells.