Biography
Biography: Yong Wang
Abstract
Human tissues are materials responsive to mechanical and chemical stimuli for a diverse array of functionalities. We have been developing tissue-mimicking materials that can respond to numerous biological and physical stimuli. This presentation will introduce how to develop programmable aptamer-functionalized hydrogels and how the functionalities of these hydrogels are specifically regulated with high fidelity at the DNA and protein levels. Our data have shown that aptamers could be effectively incorporated into hydrogels and that the incorporation ofaptamers into hydrogels did not compromise the capability of aptamers in recognizing target molecules and the mechanical properties of the hydrogels. Importantly, the incorporated aptamerswere able to hold protein drugs with high binding strength and specificity. By rationally designing aptamer sequences, different release kinetics could be achieved. We believe that these programmable hydrogels hold great potential for a variety of biomedical applications ranging from drug delivery to regenerative medicine.