2026-09-21T02:53:46Zhttps://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/server/oai/request

oai:null:10339/385562026-09-02T10:56:02Zcom_10339_14934col_10339_38132

Rahmany, Maria Bahawdory 2013-06-06T21:19:34Z 2013-06-06T21:19:34Z 2013 https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/handle/10339/38556 Traumatic injury leads to more productive years lost than heart disease, cancer and stroke combined. Trauma is often accompanied and complicated by uncontrolled bleeding. Human hair keratin biomaterials have demonstrated efficacy in controlling hemorrhage in both small and large animal models; however little is known about the mechanism by which these proteins aid in blood clotting. Inspection of the amino acid sequence of known keratins shows the presence of several cellular binding motifs, suggesting a possible mechanism and potentially eliminating the need to functionalize the material's surface for cellular interaction. In addition to small animal studies, the hemostatic activity of keratin hydrogels was explored through porcine hemorrhage models representing both a high flow and low flow bleed. In both studies, keratin hydrogels appeared to lead to a significant reduction in blood loss. The promising results from these in vivo studies provided the motivation for this project. The objective of this dissertation work was to assess the mechanism of action of a hemostatic keratin biomaterial, and more broadly assess the biomaterial-cellular interaction(s). It is our hypothesis that keratin biomaterials have the capacity to specifically interact with cells and lead to propagation of intracellular signaling pathway, specifically contributing to hemostasis. Through application of biochemical and molecular tools, we demonstrate here that keratin biomaterials contribute to hemostasis through two probable mechanisms; integrin mediated platelet adhesion and increased fibrin polymerization. en Wake Forest University Biomaterial Blood Clotting Hemostasis Integrin Keratin Trauma Mechanistic Investigation of A Hemostatic Keratin Biomaterial Dissertation Van Dyke, Mark Saul, Justin Hantgan, Roy Kim-Shapiro, Daniel Hoth, Jason Molecular Medicine and Translational Science open.access