On November 19, 2024, Prof. Rui L. Reis, a professor from the University of Minho in Portugal and a foreign academician of the American Academy of Engineering, visited our university to carry out academic exchanges with the research group of Tissue Repair and Regenerative Medical polymer Materials of the Department of Polymers of our University. Also present at the exchange activity were Professor Gao Changyou, head of the research group, Dean of Shaoxing Research Institute of Zhejiang University, Associate Professor Zhu Yang, Distinguished Researcher Liu Wenxing and Teacher Dong Xiaofei.
The meeting was reported by five students. First, Zhao Kefei gave a presentation on the topic. In view of the instability, high toxicity and difficulty in meeting ultraviolet requirements of existing selenium-rich materials, he developed a new Se-rich compound SEK, which has high antioxidant activity, high storage stability and multiple chemical reaction active sites. Its antioxidant performance was tested to be nearly 20% higher than that of many commercially available compounds.
Mr. Zhang reported his work to Professor Reis: In her research, she found that heme exudation from myocardium during myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury is an important cause of myocardial iron death, and invented a kind of engineered lactoferrin microgel sponge with super-heme affinity properties for heme clearance treatment in myocardium, the effect of which has been well verified in large animal experiments.
Song Liang reported the research work on the new microgel system, explained in detail the design principle of the drug load and its release rule in the stage treatment, and expounded the role of the system in promoting myocardial repair, inhibiting inflammatory response, alleviating fibrosis and improving cardiac function. Professor Reis showed a strong interest in the multifunctional structure of microgels and discussed in detail their potential in long-acting drug release and tissue-targeted therapy, and the two had in-depth discussions on further research directions, laying the foundation for future collaborative research.
Next, Liu Xiaoqing presented a presentation on the topic of an antibacterial and antioxidant hydrogel dressing that can realize scar free healing. This dressing can promote the accelerated healing of infected wounds and inhibit the formation of hypertrophic scars after wound healing, which has the potential of product development. Professor Reis is more interested in product transformation, affirms the application value of this research, and discusses with Liu Xiaoqing the shortcomings of the research, the problems that may be faced in the process of product landing and the solutions.
Finally, Chang Jieting introduced the application of a hypoxic and ROS responsive microgel system in myocardial infarction. The microgel system has excellent ROS clearance performance and hypoxic slow release performance, and has achieved excellent anti-inflammatory effects in vitro experiments. After the conclusion, Professor Reis put forward valuable suggestions on the advantages and disadvantages of the system design.
The visit and exchange of Professor Reis has broadened the horizon of the students and is of great significance. It not only gives the students some guidance in their work, but also makes the students realize the significance of scientific research from a higher perspective, and provides valuable help for the students' future scientific research life.
