Research Projects

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that involves designing extracellular matrix (ECM) mimicking scaffolds to promote grafts. The challenge lies in creating a biomimicking, biocompatible scaffold that not only provides structural integrity but also enhances cell growth, promotes angiogenesis, and is easily bio-degradable. Functional regions of ECM proteins have been utilized to functionalize biomaterials used as scaffolds, but they have been conjugated with self-assembling peptides (SAP) and/or polymers, which affects functionality, increases cost, and complicates surface properties and morphology prediction. This study proposes bioengineering these functional motifs to self-assemble without the aid of other SAP and synthetic polymers. The researchers will use systematic and sophisticated computational approaches to alter the self-assembly of functionally important short peptides derived from ECM proteins. They will also use the multi-scale MD approach to identify the appropriate condition by modifying, evaluating, and optimizing sequence, functional, and local environmental factors. Successful candidates will be evaluated experimentally to validate their tissue engineering potential. The findings will pave the way for computationally designing, characterizing, and optimizing functional protein motifs of ECM for tissue engineering applications without tedious hit-and-trial approaches. Successful candidates can be taken up for commercial applications after rigorous in-silico, in-vitro/vivo evaluations.