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Project

Mechanotransduction in Human Neural Tube Organoids and their Fate Regulatory Effects

Cells can feel their microenvironment and respond to changes, such as strain (being stretched or compressed), via mechanotransduction. This allows cells to change and adapt to new mechanical situations. During development, specialized cells form tissues that continuously deform and remodel to give rise to geometrical features such as the human neural tube, a precursor to our central nervous system. These cells also adopt various fates in a process called differentiation – vital for correct embryonic development, however, little is understood if the mechanical strains, which occur during development impact the fates of the specialized cells in the neural tube. To study these mechanical effect, I will use a kind of cell that is able to adopt many various fates, including those found in the human neural tube, to create 3D human neural tube-like cell aggregates (organoids). Further, I will use various tools to assess how these organoids grow and adapt to their synthetic microenvironment, which I will deform using mechanical platforms thereby imposing forces and stress. I will then asses whether such stresses affect how these organoids adopt various fates and effectively pattern in manner more resembling that of neural tubes found in embryos. With this I hope to investigate and highlight the important role mechanical strains play during development. By more honestly representing embryonic features, these organoids can serve as better models for studying development and diseases.

 

Date:1 Oct 2019 →  1 Sep 2022
Keywords:neural tube, organoids, iPSC, mechanotransduction, TFM, FRET, hydrogels
Disciplines:Tissue engineering, Fluid mechanics and fluid dynamics, Natural and biocomposites, Magnetism and superconductivity, Biomaterials engineering not elsewhere classified