Author: Lillian Hutchinson | Major: Chemical Engineering | Semester: Spring 2024

My name is Lillian Hutchinson, and I am part of the College of Engineering. I am

majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in mathematics. I work in Dr. Young Hye Song’s

lab in the biomedical engineering department.

 

I began working in Dr. Song’s lab during the summer of 2023 through a National Science

Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate Students (REU). My research focused on

the optimization of a tissue model specifically used for diseased tissue. When applying to the

REU, this was the project I was most interested in due to the applications within the medical

field. Fibrosis, characterized by the accumulation of excess collagen, causes the scarring of

tissue, eventually leading to organ failure. The microenvironment of fibrotic tissue can be

modeled using collagen I hydrogels that are modified to have thicker collagen fibers. Fibrosis

can occur in tissue that has a natural directionality which can be mimicked by stretching the

hydrogels. I optimized a model with thicker, aligned collagen fiber that can be used to test

various treatments for disease.

 

As I continued working in the lab, my research evolved into testing the interactions

between cells and this diseased environment in comparison to cells in a healthy tissue model.

Cells secrete an enzyme that naturally degrades collagen, matrix metalloproteinase-14

(MMP-14). I hypothesized that MMP-14 expression would be increased in the diseased tissue

model in comparison to the healthy tissue model. MMP-14 expression is important within the

disease model because as the enzyme degrades collagen, it creates a space for cells to attach

and grow. The expression of MMP-14 would be increased in a disease model because of the

prevalence of thicker collagen fibers.

 

My experiment compares tissue models with a thin mesh of collagen fibers against

thicker collagen fibers as well as models with aligned and unaligned fibers. Using image

analysis and western blot testing, I have begun to compare the concentration of MMP-14

secreted by adipose-derived stem cells in each model. This semester, I focused on the aligned

and unaligned healthy tissue model and will expand testing to the diseased tissue model in the

future.

 

During this work, issues with quantitative analysis arose. After performing Western blot

testing, unexpected and unidentified proteins were secreted by the cells. Due to this, I am

working alongside the graduate students in my lab to determine what the proteins could be as

well as fine-tune the Western blot protocol. This has caused a slight setback and will result in

further testing of the healthy tissue model next semester, alongside that of the diseased model.

In the future, I plan on attending a conference to present this work.

 

Funding from the Honors College has allowed me to buy antibodies to identify proteins

during western blot testing. Using previous publications, I identified an antibody for MMP-14 and

was able to order it for protein quantification. It has also enabled me to focus on my research

instead of getting a part-time job. The grant has helped me to pursue my goals and a future

Ph.D.