| Grant number: | 15/01649-6 |
| Support type: | Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree |
| Effective date (Start): | June 01, 2015 |
| Effective date (End): | August 31, 2015 |
| Field of knowledge: | Engineering - Biomedical Engineering - Bioengineering |
| Principal researcher: | Luís Vicente Franco de Oliveira |
| Grantee: | Nadua Apostólico |
| Supervisor abroad: | Ramon Farrè |
| Home Institution: | Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE). Campus Vergueiro. São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Research place: | Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain |
| Associated to the scholarship: | 13/21765-5 - Resistance and compliance of lungs in decellularization and recellularization process with stem cell., BP.MS |
Abstract Significant respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, interstitial lung disease, and cystic fibrosis result in irreversible structural lung damage, with lung transplantation as the only therapeutic indication when the disease reaches an advanced progression. The matrix of decellularized organs maintains potentially the three-dimensional architecture and biochemical composition, as well as the original tissue microvasculature. These properties make the decellularized lung, very promising for the generation of functional bioartificial lungs, since it provides better recreating the in vivo microenvironment. In this context, lung bioengineering is regarded as a potential future therapeutic alternative but current research is very much in the preliminary stages and intensive scientific efforts are therefore required. The mechanical behavior of mechanical properties of decellularized lungs during the process is still little unknown. The study of lungs mechanical properties would be an important determinant of lung function and its measurement is central to the study of respiratory mechanisms Therefore, this study aims to investigate in an experimental animal model, the behavior of the resistance and compliance of decellularized rat lungs. Lungs will be obtained from Sprague-Dawley male rats (250-300 g) according to a protocol approved by the Ethical Committee of Animal Experimentation of the University of Barcelona. The lung decellularization protocol will comprise the following steps harvesting, cleaning, freezing/thawing cicles, SDS washing and PBS rinsing. The mechanical parameters will be analyzed through the end-inspiratory airway occlusion technique. For this project, there is a partnership between the Cardiopulmonary Mechanical Experimental Laboratory of the Post Graduate Program Master Degree and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences of the Nove de Julho University - UNINOVE with the study group of the Laboratory of Biophysics and Bioengineering at the University of Barcelona - Spain under the responsibility of Prof. Daniel Navajas and Prof. Ramon Farre. (AU) | |