# Metabolomic Screening of Biomaterials for MSC Culture

> **NIH NIH R21** · GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2021 · $174,020

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have transformative healthcare potential, but to achieve
therapeutic cell numbers, MSCs must be culture expanded. On tissue culture poly(styrene), however,
MSC expansion is constrained by replicative senescence, and cells experience progressive loss of
therapeutic potency with continued expansion. The lack of large numbers of reliably potent therapeutic
cells is considered one of the most critical roadblocks to the success of MSC clinical trials. However,
screening of improved MSC culture conditions has been hampered by the fact that there are no
characterization tools that might allow prediction of cell fitness early in culture. Metabolism is the most
dynamic level of cellular response, and metabolomics may enable the identification of early signatures
associated with optimal cell product quality. Therefore, it is hypothesized that early metabolomics data
from MSCs cultured on biomaterials will allow prediction of cell fitness later in culture and thus promote
development of materials to promote a desired cell phenotype during expansion.
 The objective of this application is to determine the relationship between biomaterial carrier
properties, cell metabolism, and maintenance of MSC fitness during expansion. This objective will be
approached through the following specific aims: 1) Evaluate the effects of altering ligand type and
stiffness of the biomaterial substrate on metabolism and replicative senescence of human MSCs during
expansion in serum, and 2) Evaluate the effects of the substrate heparin content and pattern of initial
seeding on metabolism and replicative senescence of human MSCs during expansion in serum-free
conditions.
 The proposed work is innovative because it uses early cellular metabolic responses to design material
substrates that will promote cell expansion without senescence in a range of media compositions. Results
from these studies are expected to have an important positive impact because they will lead to more
efficacious expansion protocols for MSCs and thus produce more effective cell-based therapies for a wide
variety of diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10128611
- **Project number:** 1R21AR077915-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Johnna S Temenoff
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $174,020
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10128611

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10128611, Metabolomic Screening of Biomaterials for MSC Culture (1R21AR077915-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10128611. Licensed CC0.

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