A refillable cell scaffold to help heal the heart after a heart attack
Engineering a cross-linked cellular network for cardiac repair
They are developing a refillable, layer-by-layer cell scaffold that captures repeated doses of therapeutic cells to improve healing after a heart attack.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11143113 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project is developing a tunable, replenishable scaffold made from therapeutic cells that can be layered onto damaged heart tissue so each dose captures the next. Researchers will coat cell surfaces with engineered proteins that bind together only as designed to form a stable, cross-linked network without premature clumping. The network is meant to hold more therapeutic cells at the infarct site, release drugs locally over time, and allow extra doses later to reach the desired treatment level. The team aims for this approach to enable personalized dosing and repeated treatment without repeated invasive surgery.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates would be people who have recently had a heart attack (myocardial infarction) with damaged heart muscle that might benefit from cell-based reparative therapy.
Not a fit: People without recent heart attacks, those with non-infarct causes of heart failure, or those who cannot receive cell therapies may not benefit from this approach.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could improve heart muscle repair and function after a myocardial infarction by increasing how many therapeutic cells stay at the injury site and by allowing repeated local drug delivery.
How similar studies have performed: Previous cell therapies for heart attacks have had limited success because cells are poorly retained, so this layered, replenishable scaffold is a novel approach building on that challenge.
Where this research is happening
Chapel Hill, United States
- Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nguyen, Juliane — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Nguyen, Juliane
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.