The Ahn Group | UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology

Group Members

Seungkuk Ahn

Principal Investigator

About The Ahn Group

Keywords: Extracellular Matrix, Fibronectin, Nanofibers, Tissue Engineering, Integrin, Mechanobiology, Regenerative Medicine, Wound Healing, Skin Regeneration, Fibrosis

Our lab is interested in understanding cell-extracellular matrix mechanobiology in 3D contexts. For this, we first aim to tissue-engineer biomimetic and regenerative 3D nanofiber scaffolds by using innate extracellular matrix proteins (e.g., fibronectin) as a building block and by applying various addictive manufacturing platforms.

We will then deep dive into investigating integrin-mediated signalling pathways to systemically understand how different cells sense and respond to the engineered extracellular matrices across various biological and temporal scales. Our focus is primarily on skin cells and tissues, but also on any other cell types including stem cells, epithelial cells, cardiomyocytes, and neurons.

Altogether, our lab aspires to better understand physiologically-relevant mechanobiology and to ultimately design “regenerative niches” for functional implants (e.g., wound dressing) and in vitro model systems.

Research Themes

*Images from Ahn et al (2015) Adv. Mat./ Ahn et al (2018) Sci. Rep./ Ahn et al (2018) Anal Bioanal Chem/ Ahn et al (2020) Biomaterials/ Ahn* et al (2023) Adv. Sci./ Ahn* et al (2024) Biomaterials.

Cover Images

*Cover images from Ahn et al (2015) Adv. Mat./ Ahn et al (2018) Anal Bioanal Chem/ Ahn et al (2019) ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces./ Ahn* et al (2023) Adv. Sci.

Join our team

Please directly contact Prof. Seungkuk Ahn (seungkuk.ahn@ucd.ie) to find out more about our research, to collaborate on a project, or to discuss Postdoc, PhD or internship opportunities.

Recent Publications

[1] Ahn S, Siontas O, Koester J, Krol J, Fauser S, Müller DJ, “Magnetically guided adeno-associated virus delivery for spatially targeted transfection in porcine retina and eye” (2024) Advanced Healthcare Materials

[2] Ahn S*, Jain A, Kasuba KC, Treutlein B, Müller DJ*, “Customizable multi-component fibrillar extracellular matrices to modulate tissue-specific cellular dynamics” (2024) Biomaterials, *corresponding authors

[3] Ahn S*, Sharma U, Kasuba KC, Strohmeyer N*, Müller DJ*, “Engineered biomimetic fibrillar fibronectin matrices regulate cell adhesion initiation, migration, and proliferation via α5β1 integrin and syndecan-4 crosstalk” (2023) Advanced Science, *corresponding authors, Selected as frontispiece article

[4] Ahn S, Chantre CO, Ardoña HAM, Gonzalez GM, Campbell PH, Parker KK, “Biomimetic and Estrogenic Fibers Promote Tissue Repair in Mice and Human Skin via Estrogen Receptor β” (2020) Biomaterials

[5] Ahn S, Ardoña HAM, Campbell PH, Gonzalez GM, Parker KK, “Alfalfa Nanofibers for Dermal Wound Healing” (2019) ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Selected as supplementary cover article

[6] MacQueen LA, Alver CG, Chantre CO, Ahn S, Cera L, Gonzalez GM, O’Connor BB, Drennan DJ, Peters MM, Motta SE, Zimmerman JF. “Muscle Tissue Engineering in Fibrous Gelatin: Implications for Meat Analogs” (2019) NPJ Science of Food

[7] Ahn S, Ardoña HAM, Lind JU, Eweje F, Kim SL, Gonzalez GM, ... & Parker KK, “Mussel-inspired 3D Fiber Scaffolds for Heart-on-a-chip Toxicity Studies of Engineered Nanomaterials” (2018) Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Selected as front cover article

[8] Chantre CO, Campbell HP, Golecki HM, Buganza AT, Capulli AK, Deravi LF, Dauth S, Sheehy SP, Paten JA, Gledhill K, Doucet YS, Abaci HE, Ahn S, Pope BD, Ruberti JW, Hoerstrup SP, Christiano AM, Parker KK, “Production-scale Fibronectin Nanofibers Promote Wound Closure and Tissue Repair in a Dermal Mouse Model” (2018) Biomaterials

[9] Ahn S, Chantre CO, Gannon AR, Lind JU, Campbell PH, Grevesse T, O’Connor BB, Parker KK. “Soy Protein/Cellulose Nanofiber Scaffolds Mimicking Skin Extracellular Matrix for Enhanced Wound Healing” (2018) Advanced Healthcare Materials, Featured in NPR

[10] Ahn S, Deravi LF, Park SJ, Dabiri BE, Kim JS, Parker KK, Shin K, “Self-organizing Large-scale Extracellular-matrix Protein Networks” (2015) Advanced Materials, Selected as front cover article