Date of Graduation

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Chemical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Younghye Song

Committee Member

Keisha Walters

Second Committee Member

Tammy Lutz-Rechtin

Third Committee Member

Hyunjin Moon

Fourth Committee Member

Xiaoyu Wang

Abstract

Fibrosis is the accumulation of extracellular matrix components, specifically collagen I which is the most abundant matrix material. This accumulation leads to increased tissue stiffness resulting in organ failure and eventually death. This project seeks to develop a fibrotic collagen I hydrogel model with tunable fiber thickness and orientation to improve the understanding of the remodeling response and inflammatory pathways of fibrosis. Using a custom-made stretching device and temperature-dependent casting, a healthy tissue and fibrotic tissue model was developed and characterized. Alpha-smooth muscle actin, an intracellular marker found to increase in fibrosis, as well as the expression of inflammatory cytokines, notably interleukin-6 was increased in hydrogels with thicker and aligned collagen fibers. Matrix metalloproteinases are enzymes that degrade collagen while tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases inhibit that degradation. The ratio between these remodeling factors was explored with cellular secretome concentrations indicating increased collagen degradation in hydrogels with thinner fibers while degradation was decreased in hydrogels with thicker unaligned fibers. These data indicate that thicker aligned collagen fibers can be used as a fibrotic model, with IL-6 and αSMA being increased by a fibrotic microenvironment.

Keywords

Tissue Engineering; Biomaterials; Disease Model

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Available for download on Monday, April 30, 2029

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