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SUMMARY:Cell-Mediated fiber recruitment drives extra-cellular matrix mecha
 nosensing in engineered fibrillar microenvironments
DTSTART:20160617T121500
DTSTAMP:20260510T201229Z
UID:ed9c0273872c9fa7dedcd42c7065f7f613ca9485c61d701e9e5bdb45
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Brendon Baker\, University of Michigan\, Ann Arbor\, MI 
 (USA)\nAbstract:\nTo investigate how cells sense stiffness in settings rel
 evant to the architecture of native extracellular matrices (ECM)\, we desi
 gned a synthetic fibrous material with tunable mechanics and user-defined 
 architecture. In contrast to flat hydrogels\, these fibrous materials reca
 pitulated cell-matrix interactions of collagen matrices including arborize
 d cell morphologies\, cell-mediated realignment of ECM fibers\, and bulk c
 ontraction of the material. Surprisingly\, while increasing stiffness indu
 ced cell spreading and proliferation on flat hydrogels\, higher stiffness 
 in fibrous matrices instead suppressed spreading and proliferation. Lower 
 stiffness in fibrous networks permitted active cellular forces to recruit 
 nearby fibers\, dynamically increasing ligand density and stiffness local 
 to the cell and promoting the formation of focal adhesions and related sig
 naling. These studies demonstrate a departure from the well-described rela
 tionship between material stiffness and spreading established by flat hydr
 ogel surfaces\, and introduce fiber recruitment as a novel mechanism by wh
 ich cells probe and respond to mechanics in fibrillar matrices.Bio:\nDr. B
 aker has recently become a tenure-track assistant professor of biomedical 
 engineering at the University of Michigan. Before moving to Michigan\, he 
 was working with Dr. Christopher Chen at Boston University and the Wyss In
 stitute for Biologically Inspired Engineering to understand the interplay 
 between the fibrous cellular microenvironment and fundamental cell process
 es such as migration\, proliferation\, differentiation\, and extracellular
  matrix synthesis.    He received his PhD under Dr. Robert Mauck at Uni
 versity of Pennsylvania\, engineering stem cell-derived tissue replacement
 s that replicate the form and function of native fibrous tissues such as t
 he meniscus through the design of new biomaterials and mechanical bioreact
 ors.  His research interests lie broadly at the intersection of materials
  science\, mechanobiology\, and tissue engineering.
LOCATION:SV1717.1 http://map.epfl.ch/?room=sv1717.1
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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