Team:Jefferson VA SciCOS

Background

Established in 1985, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is the result of a partnership of businesses and schools created to improve education in science, mathematics, and technology. Representatives from business and industry and staff of the Fairfax County Public Schools worked together in curriculum and facilities development for the school. In recent years, local business leaders and Jefferson parents have formed the Jefferson Partnership Fund to help raise money to maintain and equip labs and classrooms in the school. As the Governor's School for Science and Technology in Northern Virginia, the school is also supported by the Virginia Department of Education. In addition to providing a specialized education for selected students in Fairfax County, Jefferson also serves other school districts including Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William counties as well as the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church.

Abstract

The amount of wound oxygenation is a key determinant of the outcome of healing because oxygen is crucial to the healing process and for resistance to infection. Chronic ischemic wounds tend to be hypoxic, and near-anoxic hypoxia is not favorable to tissue repair. Angiogenesis, the physiological process by which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, is a vital process in growth and development as well as in repair of damaged tissue. Furthermore, angiogenesis can render greater oxygen delivery to wounded areas, further enhancing growth and recovery. In order to promote angiogenesis in chronic wounds, growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VGF), and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) can be produced in elevated quantities. To address the issue of inadequate oxygen levels during the wound healing process, we coupled the VHb gene promoter, which encodes for the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin molecule, to a downstream gene encoding FGF. The VHb promoter is activated at an oxygen threshold below 2%, allowing for transcription of the FGF gene and production of the growth factor in response to conditions of near-anoxia. We also tested the production of another essential growth factor, KGF, under the influence of various constitutive promoters. This oxygen-sensing device is part of an array of growing applications targeted towards the promotion of angiogenesis as a means of wound healing in patients with severe, untreatable wounds.

         Wound         

      Angiogenesis