Wednesday, 1 November 11:00am – 12:00pm

This seminar will be delivered in Chemistry Lecture Theatre 4

Speaker: Dr Ziyu Wang, School of Life and Environmental Sciences

Host: Dr David Nguyen

Title: Rapid regeneration of a neoartery with elastic lamellae

Abstract: Compromised arteries such as those suffering from severe atherosclerosis can lead to myocardial infarction, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. Autologous or commercially available synthetic grafts can be used as artery replacement, but these often fail to provide long-term patency and display limited regeneration. Diverse types of biomaterials have been used to fabricate vascular grafts and achieved rapid reendothelialisation and ECM production. However, the regeneration of organised elastin such as elastic lamellae remains the key challenge in the vascular graft field. Towards this goal, we have fabricated vascular grafts from a combination of tropoelastin (TE), the soluble precursor to elastin, and polyglycerol sebacate (PGS), a highly elastic degradable biomaterial. We combined TE with PGS to fabricate robust, suturable elastic vascular grafts with a tunable 3D microstructure, compliant mechanical properties that match human arteries. These composites are attractive candidates for off-the-shelf small-diameter vascular grafts to achieve artery tissue regeneration with elastic lamellae – a key structure for the artery biological and mechanical functions.

Bio: Dr Ziyu Wang is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences with a specialisation in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering. He received a PhD in Tissue Engineering from the University of Sydney in 2022, along with a BE in Biomedical Engineering (Class I Honours) from the University of Sydney in 2017. Dr Ziyu Wang is interested in the use of biomimetic and biodegradable materials for the healing and regeneration of soft tissues. His current projects include; 1) Modified tropoelastin-PGS vascular graft for neoartery regeneration; 2) Developing an immunomodulatory band-aid for accelerating chronic wound healing; 3) constructing shape transforming cardiac patches for immediate cardiac function after implantation with improved cardiac tissue regeneration. These projects employ multidisciplinary approaches that encompass advanced engineering fabrication techniques, in vitro cell and in vivo animal models, and imaging mass cytometry combined with bioinformatics to evaluate tissue regeneration capabilities induced by the implants.