MD/PhD student
Case Western Reserve University
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Research Interest
Osteoblasts in the bone marrow secrete osteoid, the bone’s
extracellular matrix, and it is this matrix that eventually
gives the bone its structural integrity. There are genetic
diseases that lead to a defective production of the bone
extracellular matrix. One such genetic disease is Osteogenesis
Imperfecta in which there is a mutation in the type I
collagen gene, a key component in the bone extracellular
matrix. A clinically relevant solution is to repopulate
the bone marrow with allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells
that can
differentiate into osteoblasts that express normal type
I collagen. The cells would be introduced into the body
via the blood stream, much like a bone marrow transplant.
Unfortunately, the efficiency of cell
homing to the bone marrow is currently very poor leading
to the possibility that the number of engrafted cells
in the bone marrow to obtain a therapeutic effect would
be too low. I am attempting to increase the efficiency
of the homing by coating the cells with targeting molecules,
such as integrin alpha-4 beta-1, which has been shown
to aid in stem cell homing to the bone marrow.
Education
MD/PhD, Case Western Reserve University, 2003-present
B.S., University of California, San Diego, 2003
Publications
Paul Lin, Warren C. W. Chan, Stephen F. Badylak, Sangeeta
N. Bhatia. Assessing Liver-Derived Biomatrix for Hepatic
Tissue Engineering. Tissue Eng. 2004 Jul-Aug;10(7-8):1046-53.
Abstract
Myun K. Han, Paul Lin, David Paek, John Harvey, Elena
Fuior, and Jay R. Knutson. Fluorescence studies of Pyrene
Maleimide-Labeled Translin: Excimer Fluorescence Indicates
Subunits Associate in a Tail-to-Tail
Configuration to Form Octamer. Biochemistry. 2002 Mar
12;41(10):3468-76 Abstract
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