Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) College of Engineering, Division of Mechanical Design Engineering — Research Professor Jang Se-rim's team (Biomaterials & Mechanobiology Lab) — has developed an innovative medical technology for the treatment of lymphedema, attracting attention in the field of biomedical engineering.

The team, together with Dr. Cheon Hwa-young's group at Asan Medical Center Medical Engineering Research Center, developed a hyaluronic acid (HA) nanofiber-based artificial lymphatic conduit and announced on the 4th that they had demonstrated in experimental animals that it can dramatically enhance lymphatic vessel regeneration and lymphatic drainage function.

The results were published in Biomaterials (Elsevier, impact factor 13.6), a leading international journal in the field of biomaterials. According to Journal Citation Reports (JCR), the journal ranks within the top 5% worldwide in its subject area.

Lymphedema is a representative chronic condition that occurs when lymphatic vessels are damaged after cancer surgery or radiation therapy. It causes persistent swelling, inflammation, and fibrosis, but current treatments focus on symptom relief such as compression therapy and physiotherapy, limiting their ability to fundamentally restore damaged lymphatic vessel function.

The research team used a newly developed electrospinning system developed in-house at JBNU to fabricate micropattern-based, small-diameter artificial lymphatic conduits that mimic the structure of native lymphatic vessels. They incorporated the biopolymer hyaluronic acid to develop a novel therapeutic medical device capable of inducing lymphatic regeneration.

In vitro experiments showed that the developed artificial lymphatic conduits promoted proliferation and alignment of lymphatic endothelial cells and markedly increased expression of lymphangiogenesis-related genes Prox1, LYVE-1, and VEGFR3. They also confirmed that the conduits activated AKT- and YAP-based mechanobiological signaling pathways within lymphatic endothelial cells, effectively inducing lymphatic regeneration.

Meaningful results were also obtained in in vivo studies using an experimental lymphedema animal model. After implantation of the artificial lymphatic conduit, damaged lymphatic drainage function was effectively restored and swelling was reduced, supporting the potential for clinical application of the technology.

The research team explained that the significance of the achievement lies not only in developing a structure to replace damaged lymphatic vessels but also in proposing next-generation artificial lymphatic conduit technology that simultaneously controls biochemical signaling and the mechanical microenvironment. In particular, by demonstrating both recovery of lymphatic drainage function and improvement of lymphedema in animal models, the study provides a foundation for future clinical application.

Research Professor Jang Se-rim graduated from JBNU and served as a visiting research professor at Harvard Medical School. She was selected for the Sejong Science Fellowship and is conducting independent, innovative research. To date, she has published 30 papers in SCI-indexed journals.

This research was conducted with support from the Sejong Science Fellowship, the Mid-Career Researcher Support Program, and the Nanomaterials Technology Development Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).