Bio
Maryam did her undergraduate in Chemical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology in Iran. For her undergraduate thesis she worked on modeling Insulin delivery form microneedles system to enhance drug delivery in the blood. In 2015, she came to Lehigh to pursue her PhD in Chemical Engineering. In her spare time she enjoys reading book, watching movie and hiking.
Work
We encapsulate human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in a cell-degradable hydrogel to determine how cell-secreted enzymes, specifically matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), create unique pericellular microenvironments and affect cell migration. Using multiple particle tracking microrheology (MPT), we characterize spatio-temporal rheological properties in the pericellular region during cell-mediated remodeling. In MPT, the thermal motion of probes embedded in the network is measured. Measurements before cell migration indicates that the scaffold directly under the cell remains intact enabling spreading and attaching while the cross-link density is decreasing far from the cell center. This degradation profile suggests that hMSCs are simultaneously secreting TIMPs, which are inactivating MMPs through MMP–TIMP complexes. By neutralizing TIMPs using antibodies, we characterize the changes in matrix degradation. TIMP inhibited hMSCs create a reaction-diffusion type degradation profile where MMPs are actively degrading the matrix immediately after secretion. This treatment could increase delivery of hMSCs to injuries to aid wound healing and tissue regeneration.