UIC
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College of Dentistr y
Research
Dr. Praveen Gajendrareddy.
Dr. Sriram Ravindran. .
promising alternative to growth factors. “Our preliminary research has demonstrated that engineered exosomes may aid regeneration faster than growth factors, with fewer complications,” said Dr. Gajendrareddy, He noted that because exosomes are already used by the cell to carry messages, it makes sense to see if it is possible to amplify their function to predictably carry messages that stimulate stem cells. “Because these engineered exosomes mimic nature, we are not reinventing the wheel, we are just making the wheel go a bit faster, while better controlling the direction it travels,” Dr. Gajendrareddy said. Drs. Ravindran and Gajendrareddy will use the new funding to further develop their exosomes to be what they call functionally activated targeted exosomes, or FATE, and will evaluate the exosomes’ effectiveness in healing criticalsize skull defects in rodents. “We want to create exosomes that behave predictably — we want to control their function within the extracellular matrix in stimulating stem cells into specific, target cell types,” Dr. Ravindran said. “I think we are close.” “We hope to demonstrate promising bone regeneration with limited side effects, as a proof-of-concept,” Dr. Gajendrareddy said. “The end goal of this research is to develop new methods of treating bone and tissue loss that can help all kinds of injuries, in all kinds of settings.” In addition to more obvious uses — such as treating large skull fractures or bone loss due to gum disease — the researchers said other examples of potential applications of exosome-based regenerative medicine include the portable use of such therapies by the military to delay tissue loss until
Dr. Afsar Naqvi.
injured soldiers are transported to a medical facility, as well as prolonging the viability of hip and knee replacements to better match longer life expectancies. Dr. Chun-Chieh Huang, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Oral Biology, contributes extensively to the research, and Dr. Lyndon Cooper, Associate Dean for Research and Head, Oral Biology, also is a co-investigator on the grant. The College is a research-friendly environment. Dr. Ravindran noted that, “The UIC College of Dentistry has an extensive and prestigious portfolio of mineralized tissue and tissue regeneration researchers. This research aligns with the overall regenerative research mission of the College and compliments other craniofacial and dental tissue regeneration work that is performed here.” Dr. Ravindran added, “I believe that this College has a supportive, collaborative, and conducive environment with experienced researchers guiding the development of new investigators and supporting innovative ideas.”
Team Led by Dr. Afsar Naqvi Earns NIH Grant to Study Herpesviruses A $2 million R01 grant from the NIH/NIDCR will help UIC researchers study how herpesviruses, and their underlying molecular mechanisms, contribute to increased inflammation in oral diseases, like periodontitis. The researchers, led by the College of Dentistry’s Dr. Afsar Naqvi, Research Assistant Professor, Periodontics,
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