Interdisciplinary research leads to first known use of smart nanofilm on living tissue

Louisiana Tech students Mridhula Thangaraj and Chris Monceaux will participate in a symposium on 'Regenerative Medicine - Wound Healing' at the 2010 Experimental Biology meeting, April 24-28 at the Anaheim (CA) Convention Center.

The Experimental Biology meeting is part of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology's (FASEB) 2010 Annual Meeting.

The students' presentation titled, Design of Smart Nanofilms for Regenerative Medicine using LbL Nanoassembly, will highlight the first known application of a smart nanofilm sprayed directly on living tissue.

"Experimental Biology is one of the most attended scientific meetings because of the depth and breadth of science that is presented, as well as the opportunity to merge basic and clinical sciences," said Mills.

"There is significant prestige that invitations to present at these symposia sessions and the recognition that presenting a paper provides to the authors."

The project is a joint collaborative between the laboratories of Dr. David Mills, Louisiana Tech professor of biological sciences and the Marvin T. Green Jr. Endowed Professor in Pre-Medicine, and Dr. Yuri Lvov, Louisiana Tech professor of chemistry and the T.C. Pipes Endowed Chair & Professor of Micro and Nanosystems.

Research results suggest that biocompatible polyelectrolyte nanofilm multilayers (PNMs) can significantly increase tissue repair response as compared to untreated controls. Acting as a local drug delivery system and wound dressing, these PNMs can significantly improve the initial stages of wound healing.

Mills says that in addition to improved wound healing, this technology can also improve diverse skin disorders, serve as a topical drug delivery system and remediate many post-surgical disorders.

Thangaraj, a graduate student in biomedical engineering, and Monceaux, an undergraduate student in biological sciences, are working across disciplines to develop these new and innovative technologies.

"Today, many of the exciting and most challenging problems in regenerative medicine are far too complex and require the contributions of scientists from a number of different fields," said Mills.

"At Louisiana Tech, researchers with backgrounds in chemistry, materials science, biology, pharmacology, and biomedical engineering are working together to develop an application for wound repair that has much broader applications."