Nano-Bioengineering and Research Paper Image

Kim Dong-gyu, Choi Jun-hyuk, and Kim Ga-eun of the Department of Nano-Bioengineering at Incheon National University (Professor Yang Seong-gu), Lee Ji-woo (Professor Song Kwang-hoon), and Kim In-tae of the Department of Biological Science at Incheon National University (Professor Kim Jae-geun) studied advanced injectable hydrogel-based stroke treatments, and the results were published in a paper (Title: Minimal Invasive Syringe-Injectable Hydrogel With Angiogenic Factors for Ischemic Stroke Treatment), a prominent academic journal.

In this paper, the research team proposed a stroke treatment method in which a hydrogel loaded with a blood vessel growth factor is directly injected into the brain in a minimally invasive manner. The injectable hydrogel is similar to the extracellular matrix structure and can slowly release the loaded blood vessel growth factor to the outside. As a result, after injecting the hydrogel loaded with the blood vessel growth factor into the brain of an animal model in which stroke is induced, it could be confirmed that blood vessel production was promoted in the damaged brain and the damaged motor ability was improved. Therefore, this stroke treatment suggests that it may be widely applied to the treatment of brain diseases in the future.

This study was conducted based on the support of the Korea Research Foundation's Basic Laboratory Support Project.

Photograph of Department of Nano-bioengineering students

From the top left) Researcher Kim Dong-gyu, Dr. Lee Ji-woo, Dr. Lee Hyung-won, Dr. Choi Jun-hyuk, Master's program, and Kim Ga-eun