일시: 12월 06일(목) 4:00PM

장소 : 벤처관 711호

연사: 신항철교수(숭실대 의생명시스템학부)

제목: Development of highly stable growth factors and their applications to wound healing and anti-hair loss

내용:Growth factors are proteins that act as chemical messengers between cells and play a role in cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. Due to their intrinsic functions, growth factors have important applications in wound healing and hair growth. In diabetic foot ulcer, inflammation and tissue response to wounds are abnormal and the level and activity of endogenous growth factors at the wound site are reduced. In the case of hair growth, there are many reports that growth factors are involved in the hair cycle and stimulate the regeneration of hairs. Despite these therapeutic effects, commercially available growth factors have certain limitations such as short half-life, which indicates lack of stability at room temperature, and loss of activity after storing in a variety of formulations. Stabilizing these growth factors can improve their capacity to stimulate wound healing and hair growth, and maintain activity upon delivery to the wound site. To enhance the capacity for wound healing and hair growth, we developed structurally stabilized epidermal growth factor (ST-EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (ST-bFGF) and fibroblast growth factor-9 (ST-FGF9) to overcome limitations of commercially available EGF (CA-EGF), bFGF (CA-bFGF) and FGF9 (CA-FGF9), such as short half-life and loss of activity after formulation. None of the ST-growth factors were toxic, and they were more stable at higher temperatures than CA-EGF, CA-bFGF and CA-FGF9. We loaded ST-EGF and ST-bFGF onto a hyaluronate-collagen dressing (HCD) matrix, and tested the effectiveness of this system in promoting wound healing in a mouse model of diabetes. Wounds treated with HCD matrix loaded with ST-EGF or ST-bFGF showed a more rapid rate of tissue repair as compared to the control in type I and II diabetes models. By using ST-bFGF and ST-FGF9, we formulated a growth factor cocktail (Cellcurin®) and found effectiveness for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia.