Dr. Stupp's presentation to the New York Academy of Sciences.

The molecular and nanoscale design of synthetic environments that emulate extracellular matrices is critical for the future of tissue engineering. These matrices need to control cell behaviors with increasing sophistication as we learn more developmental biology. Ideally, they should also hone in on the right tissues by self-assembly and be programmed to disappear into nutrients after completing their cell management tasks.

Chemistry's role lies in the supramolecular crafting of synthetic matrices that will allow cells to survive, control their proliferation, guide them in space or recruit them into the space of the matrix, and, most importantly, control their differentiation into a desired lineage. One of the fundamental chemical questions is to ask what synthetic molecular or supramolecular structures are best to interact effectively with membrane receptors?or what might be the best way to deliver, in a preprogrammed fashion, the proteins that trigger signal transduction pathways. This lecture illustrates this future platform using as examples materials formed by self-assembling peptide-amphiphile molecules.