Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Teng Ma, Florida State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Feb. 13, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 164 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisors: George R. Dodge and Mary C. Farach-Carson, Dept. of Biological Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed Oct. 30, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-66).

Tendons are able to undergo repeated cyclic loading in vivo without permanent deformation or mechanical failure. However, diseased, traumatised and decellularised tendons gradually lose the ability to resist load and fail because of creep deformation. The molecular basis of the mechanical properties of tendon and how cells establish and maintain these properties is poorly understood. New knowledge in this area is required to develop novel medical strategies to improve tendon repair and regeneration. Recent advances in tissue bioengineering have led to the formation of fibrin-based tendon-like tissue (‘tendon constructs’) that display the mechanical properties and ultrastructure of embryonic tendon. This thesis presents the characterisation of the tendon constructs derived from primary fibroblasts to understand the relationship between the cells and matrix during tissue development, and to establish the standard of in vitro engineered tendons. These findings facilitated protocol development to engineer human tendon-like tissue derived from stem cells. Novel findings of constructs formed from differentiated human pluripotent stem cells in feeder and feeder-free systems are presented. Fibrin gels were seeded with human dermal fibroblasts (HDF), chick tendon fibroblasts (CTF), MAN5 (Manchester, embryonic stem) cells, human embryonic stem cells (HuES7) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). The gels were cultured until isometric tendon-like constructs were formed (T0) or continued for four or ten days post-formation. The mechanical properties, histology and gene expression of the constructs were analysed and compared between the constructs seeded with the aforementioned cell types. Varying the initial cell number (tested in CTF-seeded fibrin and collagen based constructs) significantly affected the final cell count and the mechanical properties of the constructs differentially at T0 and T10. A non-linear relationship exists between the initial and final cell number, and, between the initial cell number and mechanical properties. However, the results showed that cell number impacted cell-matrix stabilisation as strength per se was strongly dependent on initial cell number. Collagen-based constructs showed a significantly lower stiffness compared with fibrin-based constructs at T0 and T10. The stem cells and primary cells reproducibly underwent morphogenesis to form a 3D tissue similar to embryonic tendon in vivo expressing ECM markers such as collagens type I and III. The tissue also exhibited the ultrastructural characteristics and biomechanical profile of immature tendons. RNA seq and qPCR results demonstrated the upregulation of tendon-specific genes. Tendon-like tissue generated from human stem cells and HDFs in vitro has the potential to replace functional tissue lost through disease and to advance the understanding of the molecular basis of human tenogenesis.

A major therapeutic challenge in musculoskeletal regenerative medicine is how to effectively replenish bone tissue lost due to pathological conditions such as fracture, osteoporosis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Mesenchymal stem cells are currently investigated for applications in bone-tissue engineering and human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) could be a promising source for generation of tissue-engineered bone. However, the therapeutic potential of MSCs has not been fully exploited due to a lack of knowledge regarding the identity, nature, and differentiation of hMSCs. Epigenetic mechanisms regulating the chromatin structure as well as specific gene transcription are crucial in determination of stem cell differentiation. With the aim to systematically identify epigenetic factors that modulate MSC differentiation, the work in this thesis encompasses an approach to identify epigenetic mechanisms underlying, initiating, and promoting osteoblast differentiation, and the investigation of individual epigenetic modulators. Various osteogenic inducers were validated for differentiation of MSCs and an assay allowing assessment of differentiation outcome was developed. This assay was subsequently employed in knockdown experiments with lentiviral short hairpin RNAs and inhibitor screens with small molecules targeting putative druggable epigenetic modulator classes. This approach identified around 100 epigenetic modulator candidates involved in osteoblast differentiation, of these candidates approximately 2/3 downregulated and 1/3 upregulated alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Serving as a proof-of-concept, orthogonal validation experiments employing locked nucleic acid (LNA) knockdown were performed to validate a subset of candidates. Two identified target genes were selected for further investigation. Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) was identified as one component of epigenetic regulation; its inhibition led to a decrease in ALP expression, downregulation of key osteoblast transcription factors Runx2 and Osterix, as well as impaired bone matrix formation. Knockdown of lysine (K)-specific demethylase 1A (KDM1A/LSD1) upregulated ALP activity and treatment with a small molecule inhibitor targeting KDM1A led to an increase in ALP, RUNX2, and bone sialoprotein expression. Intriguingly, in a transgenic mouse model overexpressing Kdm1a a decrease in bone volume and bone mineral density was observed, thus supporting the hypothesis that KDM1A is a central regulator of osteoblast differentiation.