Towards Mimicking the Foetal Liver Niche: Engineering 3D Hydrogel Systems for in-vitro Culture of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Within my PhD, I will be working on the development of 3D culture systems for the in-vitro culture of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs), which are a small population of stem cells giving rise to all blood cells during the lifespan of the organism. These 3D culture system will be designed to mimics key biophysical and biological features of the fetal liver (FL) niche, the home place of these stem cells during mammalian development. In the FL niche, HSCs proliferate and produce more committed progenitors proliferate to give rise to the pool of HSPC for blood production. To achieve this goal, different hydrogel materials will be tested including fibrin, collagen and polyethylene glycol (PEG) due to their biocompatibility and biofunctionalisation properties. Atomic Force Microscopy will be used to characterise the mechanical properties of the FL and this information will be then used to design hydrogels that mimic the stiffness of the natural tissue. HSPCs will be then encapsulated within the hydrogels and their viability and expansion will be assessed by means of confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.

Publication year:2021

Accessibility:Open