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SUMMARY:Microparticles as Cellular Communicators to Empower Therapies: the
  Case of Megakaryocytic Microparticles
DTSTART:20141208T110000
DTSTAMP:20260407T210932Z
UID:c59e42d5975339fd556a45e17b461e30f9c57accc16c5a74dcd165cd
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Eleftherios Terry Papoutsakis\, University of Delaware\,
  Newark\, DE (USA)\nDISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERINGAbstrac
 t:\nA long-standing goal in cell-culture technologies is the ability to pr
 oduce human blood cells for transfusion medicine. Another important goal i
 s to develop robust differentiation technologies of stem cells\, technolog
 ies that could be transferred to the clinic but also used in in vitro inve
 stigational experimentation. Among blood cells\, platelets\, needed for bl
 ood coagulation and vascular repair\, are an expensive “product” in li
 mited supply. Production of platelets in a “blood factory” is recogniz
 ed as a grand challenge that remains elusive. Platelets derive from polypl
 oid megakaryocytes (Mks) in the bone marrow and lung vasculature\, under b
 iomechanical forces. We will show how important these forces are for produ
 cing functional platelets and their precursors\, as well as small\, anucle
 ar particles\, Mk microparticles (MkMPs)*.  MkMP generation was dramatica
 lly enhanced (up to 47 fold) by shear flow. Significantly\, co-culture of 
 MkMPs with hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) promoted HSPC d
 ifferentiation to Mks without exogenous thrombopoietin\, thus identifying\
 , for the first time\, a novel and previously unexplored potential physiol
 ogical role for MkMPs. This demonstrates the extraordinary ability of thes
 e MkMPs in programming HSPCs. I will discuss our efforts to understand the
  mechanisms by which MkMPs target and act upon cells. How general is the p
 roduction and biological activity of MPs?  Most cells release into the ex
 tracellular environment these very small MPs (typically less than 1 micron
 ) under some stress or activation process. MPs result from direct budding 
 off the the plasma membrane\, and are increasingly recognized as important
  players in intercellular communication by transferring proteins\, lipids\
 , RNA\, and perhaps DNA\, between cells. They do so with good target speci
 ficity and thus\, one can argue for producing and using them for regenerat
 ive-medicine applications\, as well as in experimental investigations to d
 eliver “cargo” to specific cell types.\n* Jiang\, J\; Woulfe\, DS\; Pa
 poutsakis\, ET. Shear enhances thrombopoiesis and formation of micropartic
 les that induce megakaryocytic differentiation of stem cells BLOOD 124: 20
 94-2103 (SEP 25 2014).Bio:\nDr. Papoutsakis comes to UD from Northwestern 
 University\, where he served as Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and
  Biological Engineering and also was a member of the Lurie Comprehensive C
 ancer Center of the Northwestern University Medical School. Before that\, 
 he was a member of the Rice University faculty.\nHis research focuses on a
 reas of systems biology\, metabolic engineering\, experimental and computa
 tional genomics with applications in stem-cell biology and prokaryotic bio
 logy for the production of biofuels and chemicals from biomass.\nA fellow 
 of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for t
 he Advancement of Science and a founding fellow of the American Institute 
 of Medical and Biological Engineers\, Papoutsakis also has received severa
 l awards\, including the Amgen Biochemical Engineering Award and the Merck
  Cell Culture Engineering Award\, both from the from Engineering Conferenc
 es International\; the Alpha Chi Sigma Award and the Food\, Pharmaceutical
  and Bioengineering Award\, both from the American Institute of Chemical E
 ngineers\; and the Marvin Johnson Award and the Van Lanen Award\, both fro
 m the Biochemical Technology Division of the American Chemical Society. Pa
 poutsakis has published extensively in his field and served as editor-in-c
 hief of Biotechnology and Bioengineering. He also serves on the advisory b
 oards of four journals in the field of biotechnology and tissue engineerin
 g\, and on the organizing committees or advisory boards of many internatio
 nal meetings. He has authored several issued and pending patents. He has s
 erved or serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards (SAB) of four biotechnol
 ogy companies. He consults regularly and offers expert witness services in
  the field of biotechnology\, and biomedical sciences more broadly.\nA gra
 duate of the National Technical University of Athens\, Greece\, Papoutsaki
 s received his Master's and Doctoral degrees from Purdue University.
LOCATION:SV1717a http://map.epfl.ch/?room=sv1717a
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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