Making 3D Models That Matter: Engineering Skeletal Muscle Tissue in a Dish
Event details
| Date | 08.06.2017 |
| Hour | 13:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Penney M. Gilbert, University of Toronto (CAN) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Skeletal muscle tissue is found throughout the human body and allows for actions such as walking, swallowing, and breathing. A skeletal muscle is comprised of bundles of long cylindrical muscle cells that are often attached to bones via tendons and that contract in unison in response to human intent (i.e. thought). Numerous genetic and acquired conditions can impact skeletal muscle performance, but the lack of robust culture models to study contractile skeletal muscle tissues outside of the body has made it challenging to study this tissue. Using a 3D printing and tissue engineering approach, we developed methods to grow arrays of tiny human skeletal muscle tissues in a dish. By combining the muscle tissues with post-mitotic motor neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells, we show that it is possible to study developmental processes and diseases that impact the communication between motor neurons and muscle that cannot be studied using classic two-dimensional co-cultures. Furthermore, by establishing methods to model and study human exercise and skeletal muscle tissue endogenous repair in a dish we uncover novel regulators of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Together, this body of work highlights the value of biologists and engineers working side-by-side to create robust culture models in order to advance knowledge and improve tissue health.
Bio:
Dr. Gilbert is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and holds cross-appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the Donnelly Centre at the University of Toronto. Penney obtained her BSc (1999) from Haverford College and her PhD (2006) from the University of Pennsylvania in the area of cell biology and mammary oncogenesis. Following this she switched research focus and became a postdoctoral fellow with Helen Blau at Stanford University in California working in the field of skeletal muscle stem cells under the support of an NIH Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Award.
In 2012, Dr. Gilbert was recruited to the University of Toronto where her research program is focused on skeletal muscle endogenous repair. Her team engineers and studies three-dimensional models of human skeletal muscle and explores muscle stem cell mechanobiology with the goal of identifying signaling pathways that can be tweaked to boost the function of skeletal muscle stem cells in the body. Her lab was supported by grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Connaught Fund, and U of T Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Fund. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Ontario Research Fund, Medicine by Design CFREF, and an Early Researcher Award from MRI currently support her work.
At the University of Toronto Dr. Gilbert is Chair of the IBBME Distinguished Seminar Series, and she is a member of the IBBME Curriculum Committee, the Collaborative Program in Developmental Biology Steering Committee, and Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy Animal Care Committee. Penney has been involved with OIRM as a member of the Governing Council and is an Associate Member of the American Society for Cell Biology Women in Cell Biology Committee.
Abstract:
Skeletal muscle tissue is found throughout the human body and allows for actions such as walking, swallowing, and breathing. A skeletal muscle is comprised of bundles of long cylindrical muscle cells that are often attached to bones via tendons and that contract in unison in response to human intent (i.e. thought). Numerous genetic and acquired conditions can impact skeletal muscle performance, but the lack of robust culture models to study contractile skeletal muscle tissues outside of the body has made it challenging to study this tissue. Using a 3D printing and tissue engineering approach, we developed methods to grow arrays of tiny human skeletal muscle tissues in a dish. By combining the muscle tissues with post-mitotic motor neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells, we show that it is possible to study developmental processes and diseases that impact the communication between motor neurons and muscle that cannot be studied using classic two-dimensional co-cultures. Furthermore, by establishing methods to model and study human exercise and skeletal muscle tissue endogenous repair in a dish we uncover novel regulators of skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Together, this body of work highlights the value of biologists and engineers working side-by-side to create robust culture models in order to advance knowledge and improve tissue health.
Bio:
Dr. Gilbert is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and holds cross-appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the Donnelly Centre at the University of Toronto. Penney obtained her BSc (1999) from Haverford College and her PhD (2006) from the University of Pennsylvania in the area of cell biology and mammary oncogenesis. Following this she switched research focus and became a postdoctoral fellow with Helen Blau at Stanford University in California working in the field of skeletal muscle stem cells under the support of an NIH Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Award.
In 2012, Dr. Gilbert was recruited to the University of Toronto where her research program is focused on skeletal muscle endogenous repair. Her team engineers and studies three-dimensional models of human skeletal muscle and explores muscle stem cell mechanobiology with the goal of identifying signaling pathways that can be tweaked to boost the function of skeletal muscle stem cells in the body. Her lab was supported by grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Connaught Fund, and U of T Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Fund. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Ontario Research Fund, Medicine by Design CFREF, and an Early Researcher Award from MRI currently support her work.
At the University of Toronto Dr. Gilbert is Chair of the IBBME Distinguished Seminar Series, and she is a member of the IBBME Curriculum Committee, the Collaborative Program in Developmental Biology Steering Committee, and Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy Animal Care Committee. Penney has been involved with OIRM as a member of the Governing Council and is an Associate Member of the American Society for Cell Biology Women in Cell Biology Committee.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI, Dietrich REINHARD)