WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: Engineering polymerized hemoglobins for use in transfusion medicine and tissue engineering

SPEAKER: Professor Andre Francis Palmer,

TIME: Wednesday January 11, 2017 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

Universal O₂-carrying solutions that can replace the O₂ storage and transport functions of red blood cells will greatly improve clinical outcomes both for trauma victims and for patients undergoing high-blood-loss surgical procedures. These O₂ carriers will also prevent the many serious complications associated with blood transfusions. My talk will address a simple approach for designing hemoglobin-based O₂ carriers (HBOCs). Our design strategy is based on the observation that transfusion of cell-free hemoglobin results in vasoconstriction, systemic hypertension and oxidative tissue injury. The root cause of these side-effects stem from the ability of hemoglobin to extravasate through pores in the wall of blood vessels and scavenge nitric oxide from the surrounding vasculature as well as catalyze production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, our design strategy will focus on increasing the molecular diameter of HBOCs so that they are unable to traverse across the wall of blood vessels into the tissue space. In this talk, I will discuss the design, biophysical properties and in vivo response of polymerized hemoglobins (a class of HBOC). I will also discuss the application of these materials to improve O₂ transport in tissue engineered constructs. This work is significant in that it will lead to the development of novel materials that are safe and efficacious for use in transfusion medicine and tissue engineering.