# Microengineering the Dental Pulp Vascular Microenvironment_Collaborative Supplement (Chen_BU)

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $244,878

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Root canals in permanent teeth have traditionally been treated by removing the necrotic tissue and replacing it
with an artificial material. Regenerative endodontics has been proposed as an improved treatment option for
these conditions. An imperative aspect in establishing the regeneration of vital dental pulp using tissue
engineering methods, is an improved understanding of the conditions that are required to engineer the dental
pulp vasculature. It has recently been demonstrated that a functional vasculature can be engineered by culturing
endothelial cells and stromal cells from various sources in the correct microenvironmental conditions. However,
the precise requirements specific to regenerating the pulp vasculature remain poorly understood. In the parent
grant, we proposed to investigate key parameters that are important to regenerate the pulp vasculature, including
matrix physical properties, composition and architecture. The proposed partner in this supplement (Dr.
Christopher Chen) has developed and characterized a microfluidic bicellular model of the human vasculature
which enables systematic studies of the interactions of endothelial and stromal cells with various exogenous
agents. Recent data from Dr. Chen’s lab using this model has demonstrated that bacteria-derived inflammatory
factors can significantly affect the function of engineered vascular capillaries, and the differentiation of stromal
cells into pericytes, which are required to provide mural support to the engineered vessels. These recent findings
are of central importance to the overarching goal of the parent award, since regeneration of dental pulp in adult
teeth is typically performed in previously-infected teeth, where bacteria-derived inflammatory factors are retained
within the dentinal tubules. Here we propose to combine recent developments resulting from the parent grant to
engineer pulp-like tissue adjacent to dentinal tissue in a microfluidic device (tooth on-a-chip), with PI Chen’s
biomimetic model of the human vasculature (vessel on-a-chip) to study the role of bacteria-derived inflammatory
factors retained in dentinal tissue on the regeneration of the dental pulp vasculature. Ultimately this will allow us
to engineer and characterize the first model of the vascularized dental pulp on-a-chip in healthy and infected
conditions. We will first (aim 1.1) develop and characterize a microfluidic model of the vascularized dental pulp
on-a-chip and will test the hydrogel elastic modulus can affect the differentiation of stromal cells into a pericyte-
like lineage, thus leading to impaired vessel barrier function near the tooth. We will then (aim 1.2) study the
effects of residual dentin infection on the formation of pericyte-supported vascular capillaries on-a-chip to test
the premise that there is a detectable threshold of residual infection that impairs mature vasculature formation
in pulp tissue.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10130987
- **Project number:** 3R01DE026170-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Luiz Eduardo Bertassoni
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $244,878
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10130987

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10130987, Microengineering the Dental Pulp Vascular Microenvironment_Collaborative Supplement (Chen_BU) (3R01DE026170-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10130987. Licensed CC0.

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