Author: Avery Fiser | Major: Chemical Engineering, Chemistry | Semester: Spring 2024

During my senior fall semester of 2023, I began research in the Chemical Engineering

department under Dr. William Richardson. Not only did this lab interest me as a chemical

engineer, but I also wanted to be a part of the lab’s mission of engineering personalized medicine

for combating heart disease. This lab also pertained to both of my majors in Chemical

Engineering and Chemistry. I worked alongside the postdocs, Fibi Meshrkey and Jake Potter, in

conducting research in the lab. At the end of this semester, Spring 2024, I had the honor to

present my work at the Undergraduate Research Symposium here at the University of Arkansas.

 

Less than 1% of drugs are able to make it from the initial drug discovery phase into

patient treatment; therefore, there is great need in improving the drug discovery phase. Having a

dependable and reliable in-vitro testbed for pre-clinical testing is vital in order to achieve greater

success in this process. Being able to improve the testbed has the potential to generate more

relevant results for predicating drug behavior in patients. A decreased timeline for drug

discovery can lead to improvement in patient care.

 

In order to increase the number of successful experimental models, having a consistent

and morphologically sound baseline engineered tissue is vital. Cell and collagen concentration

parameters in engineered tissue fabrication affect the morphology of the engineered tissue.

Tissue compaction, activity, uniformity, and functionality are parameters that affect

characteristics of the testbed. Therefore, these characteristics of the tissue can inform the optimal

condition. The aim of the study was to determine the optimal conditions for cell and collagen

concentrations in order achieve a superior testbed. In future work, in-vitro testing of collagen

based engineered tissue will be explored, utilizing mechanical stretch studies where morphology

plays a vital role.

 

During this semester of my research, I spent a majority of my time evaluating and

analyzing results from experiments completed in the previous semester. An in-house custom

machine learning pipeline was utilized for the software necessary to analyze the gel

morphologies. The length and width values, in units of pixels, were able to be determined in

order to execute calculations. The images for each gel were evaluated for the 6-day time course,

to determine the most accurate tracings which would then be utilized. The analysis was based

upon the percentile calculations and yielded grip width, middle width, boundary length and

middle length values of the gels. A variety of Excel functions were applied to the data samples

that had been deemed accurate in order for conclusions regarding morphology to be evident.

 

Since there was an immense amount of data to evaluate, this portion of the project

yielded some challenges. Jake was able to provide me assistance to have a strong foundation of

knowledge to begin the data analysis. A significant amount of trial and error was required when

writing codes in Excel and Matlab during this stage. Line and bar graphs were able to be

generated, visually reflecting the characteristics of compaction, activity uniformity, and

functionality of the tissue over the time course. Therefore, these results allowed trends in the

behavior of the tissues to be recognized. Also, I had the chance to expand my knowledge on

statistical analysis by applying t-test and ANOVA functions to the data.

 

Based on the results of this experiment and analysis of the data, the condition consisting

of 1 mg/ml of collagen paired with 1.75E+06 cell/ml of cell concentration yielded the optimal

condition. Therefore, this is the combination of protein and collagen concentration that will be

utilized in future experiments of the lab as in-vitro tests are performed. Having an accurate

testbed will hopefully generate positive results from the lab, and I am looking forward to hearing

about their future discoveries. I would like to thank the Honors College for providing such an

incredible opportunity!