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SUMMARY:IMX Talks - Complex tissue-inspired materials based on supramolecu
 lar polymers
DTSTART:20240903T110000
DTEND:20240903T120000
DTSTAMP:20260415T183547Z
UID:a24db5aaa45a160f2a4412c2ecbfe2f4b5be501b041e0465558d7f66
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Patricia Dankers\, Eindhoven University of Technology\nT
 he extracellular matrix (ECM) is the natural\, structural material that re
 sides in tissues and organs thereby displaying important biochemical funct
 ions in controlling cell behavior and cell fate. This ECM\, being in conti
 nuous interaction with cells\, is constantly reshaped and restructured to 
 meet the demands of the tissue. This interactive and dynamic behavior is c
 alled dynamic reciprocity\; i.e. cells interact and react to the ECM\, and
  the ECM reacts to the cells\, and vice versa. An important challenge in t
 he synthesis and formulation of a synthetic ECM\, is the balance between d
 ynamics and robustness. We showed that supramolecular polymer systems base
 d on fourfold hydrogen bonding ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) unist are eminent
 ly suitable to formulate both dynamic and robust ECM-inspired materials. T
 he dynamic exchange of guests in a highly dynamic telechelic bifunctional 
 UPy-poly(ethylene glycol) (BF UPy-PEG) system in water could be tuned by a
 ddition of monofunctional (shorter) UPy-oligo(ethylene glycols) (MF UPy-OE
 G) in dilute solution. We showed that MF UPy-OEG molecules formed long rob
 ust fibers\, and that MF bioactive guests (or dyes as model compounds for 
 visualization/analysis) slowly exchanged from these fibers. Hydrogelation 
 could be induced by the addition of a small amount of BF UPy-PEG crosslink
 er. In this way\, the stress relaxation of mixtures of BF UPy-PEG and MF U
 Py-OEG molecules could be changed. Importantly\, stress stiffening behavio
 r was engineered into our networks via addition of polyisocyanide polymers
 . Excitingly\, using MF bioactive guests in the form of cell adhesion liga
 nds in various mixtures\, we were able to specifically control cell adhesi
 on. This demonstrates that the dynamic exchange of bioactive guests influe
 nces cells. Achieving complex tissue-inspired materials for the culture of
  cells and organoid-like structures we aim to establish bio-communication.
  For this reason we formulated our supramolecular polymer systems into mic
 rogels\, thereby introducing complexity at the mesoscale.\n\nBio: Patricia
  Y.W. Dankers\, PhD\, PhD\, is full professor in Biomedical Materials and 
 Chemistry in the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS) and the De
 partment of Biomedical Engineering\, in the Laboratory of Chemical Biology
  and the Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering\, at the Eindhoven Uni
 versity of Technology (TU/e).\nShe studied chemistry at the Radboud Univer
 sity of Nijmegen\, the Netherlands\, where she majored in biochemistry and
  organic chemistry. During her PhD in natural sciences/chemistry at the Ei
 ndhoven University of Technology in the group of prof.dr. E.W. (Bert) Meij
 er\, she combined her fascination for biochemistry and supramolecular chem
 istry. She developed and studied supramolecular bioactive biomaterials by 
 introducing a modular approach. Here\, she laid the foundation for the sup
 ramolecular polymers nowadays used by Xeltis in their RestoreXTM technolog
 y to treat patients with cardiovascular pathologies.\nAfter her PhD defens
 e in 2006\, she worked for the company SupraPolix in Eindhoven\, and in th
 e laboratory of Pathology and Medical Biology at the University Medical Ce
 nter Groningen where together with prof.dr. Marja J.A. van Luyn she initia
 ted the bioartificial kidney project in the Netherlands. She defended her 
 second PhD thesis in medical sciences on kidney regenerative medicine at t
 he University of Groningen in 2013. In 2010 she worked in the Institute fo
 r BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago\, US
 A\, in the research group of prof.dr. Samuel I. Stupp. She has climbed eve
 ry step on the academic ladder\, from assistant professor (2008) and tenur
 ed associate professor (2014) till full professor (2017).\nShe is a Veni a
 nd Vidi laureate (2008 and 2017) and received an ERC starting grant (2012)
 . She has been awarded various (EU) grants and awards\, such as the DSM Sc
 ience & Technology award\, the Pauline van Wachem award for the best thesi
 s in biomaterials research and tissue engineering and the Journal of Polym
 er Science Innovation award at the ACS (2019). From 2011-2013 she has been
  a member of the first Jonge Gezondheidsraad (JongGR). She has been a memb
 er and board member of De Jonge Akademie (DJA) of the KNAW (2015-2020). Sh
 e has been the president of the Netherlands Society of Biomaterials and Ti
 ssue Engineering (NBTE) for a few years. She founded and is currently lead
 ing the Eindhoven Young Academy of Engineering (EYAE) at TU/e. Since 2019\
 , she is the chair of the Chemistry Round Table of NWO. This table is the 
 voice of the chemical research community to the NWO Science Domain. Additi
 onally\, she considers the promulgation of science to society a very impor
 tant topic.\n 
LOCATION:ELA 2 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==ELA%202
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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