Colorado School of Mines 5 articles published in JoVE Bioengineering Fabrication of Size-Controlled and Emulsion-Free Chitosan-Genipin Microgels for Tissue Engineering Applications Michael A. Stager1, Christopher B. Erickson2, Karin A. Payne2, Melissa D. Krebs1 1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 2Department of Orthopedics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus The present protocol describes a non-emulsion-based method for the fabrication of chitosan-genipin microgels. The size of these microgels can be precisely controlled, and they can display pH-dependent swelling, degrade in vivo, and be loaded with therapeutic molecules that release over time in a sustained manner, making them highly relevant for tissue engineering applications. Medicine A Rat Tibial Growth Plate Injury Model to Characterize Repair Mechanisms and Evaluate Growth Plate Regeneration Strategies Christopher B. Erickson1, Nichole Shaw2, Nancy Hadley-Miller2, Michael S. Riederer3, Melissa D. Krebs3, Karin A. Payne4 1Department of Bioengineering, Department of Orthopedics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 2Department of Orthopedics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 3Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, 4Department of Orthopedics, Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus The growth plate is a cartilaginous region in children's long bones where longitudinal growth occurs. When injured, bony tissue can form and impair growth. We describe a rat model of growth plate injury that leads to bony repair tissue, allowing the study of repair mechanisms and growth plate regeneration strategies. Chemistry Synthesis and Catalytic Performance of Gold Intercalated in the Walls of Mesoporous Silica Yazhou Ji1, Christopher Caskey1, Ryan M. Richards1 1Department of Chemistry and Geochemistry, Colorado School of Mines Here, we present a protocol with a sol-gel process to synthesize gold intercalated in the walls of mesoporous materials (GMS), which is confirmed to possess a mesoporous matrix with gold intercalated in the walls imparting great stability and recyclability. Environment Exploring the Effects of Atmospheric Forcings on Evaporation: Experimental Integration of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Shallow Subsurface Kathleen Smits1, Victoria Eagen1, Andrew Trautz1 1Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines A protocol for the design and construction of a soil tank interfaced to a small climate controlled wind tunnel to study the effects of atmospheric forcings on evaporation is presented. Both the soil tank and wind tunnel are instrumented with sensor technologies for the continuous in situ measurement of environmental conditions. Bioengineering In vitro Cell Culture Model for Toxic Inhaled Chemical Testing Shama Ahmad1, Aftab Ahmad1, Keith B. Neeves2, Tara Hendry-Hofer1, Joan E. Loader1, Carl W. White1, Livia Veress1 1Pediatric Airway Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado, 2Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines This protocol is designed to demonstrate exposure method of cell cultures to inhaled toxic chemicals. Exposure of differentiated air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures of airway epithelial cells provides a unique model of airway exposure to toxic gases such as chlorine. In this manuscript we describe effect of chlorine exposure on air-liquid interface cultures of epithelial cells and submerged culture of cardiomyocytes. In vitro exposure systems allow important mechanistic studies to evaluate pathways that could then be utilized to develop novel therapeutic agents.