| Start Date: | 4/17/2015 | Start Time: | 4:00 PM |
| End Date: | 4/17/2015 | End Time: | 5:30 PM |
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Event Description
Rebecca Lownes Urbano, PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics (MEM) at Drexel University, will discuss how endothelial cells, which line the inside of blood vessels, dynamically integrate signals from the flowing blood at their apical surface and the basement membrane at their basolateral surface. Her team's lab uses engineered cell culture systems, such as flow chambers, cell stretching devices, and substrates of varied stiffness, to study the interplay between biomechanical and biochemical stimuli in the endothelium. This integration of signals is key to normal vascular function and is also critical to vascularized tissue engineered scaffolds.
This talk will discuss how endothelial cell-substrate interactions impact tissue engineering scaffold endothelialization and inflammatory response. In each study, primary aortic endothelial cells were grown on collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels with varying stiffness (6-50 kPa). For collective migration, cells were seeded on gels within a cage and then their outward migration was measured. For inflammatory response, cells were seeded on gels at confluence, treated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), and barrier function was measured. Using quantitative image analysis, we now show that substrate endothelialization is best when cells migrate collectively, and this process is mediated by extracellular matrix fiber organization in a substrate stiffness dependent manner. Substrate stiffness also modulates endothelial barrier loss both in vitro in response to TNFα through increased cellular contractility and in elastin haploinsufficient mice. Improved understanding of how endothelial cells interact with scaffold mechanical properties will contribute to vascularized tissue engineering scaffold design. For more info, please visit www.biomed.drexel.edu. |
Contact Information:
Name: Ken Barbee
Phone: 215-895-1335 |
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Location:
Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building (PISB), Room 120, located at the corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets. |
Audience:
Undergraduate StudentsGraduate StudentsFacultyStaff |
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