Good Morning,

The College of Science invites you to attend a guest lecture:

Organ-on-a-chip: A new paradigm for personalized medicine
Monday, June 5th
3 p.m.
EXPL 3301

Guest Speaker:
Stella Alimperti, Research Fellow
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115

Abstract:
Organ-on-a-chip is an emerging technology that mimics the three dimensional (3D) structure and the physiological response of an organ. This technology has the potential for high throughput drug screening without the need of costly animal studies, which sometimes fail due to deficiency in cross-species extrapolation, and for the tailoring of medical treatments to the individual characteristics of each patient. Although this technology may be used to test out different organ related-diseases, we focus on cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) since they are considered one of the leading cause of mortality in the United States. Indeed, approximately 17 million Americans are diagnosed with CVDs with an estimated collective cost to the healthcare system of over $140 billion. Major forms of arterial diseases, such as atherosclerosis and stroke, are characterized by non-functional and leaky blood vessels. Although these causes are multifactorial, perivascular cells including smooth muscle cells (SMCs) or pericytes (PCs), and endothelial cells (ECs), have crucial role in blood vessel function by controlling vascular barrier and contractility. To probe and understand their functionality under pathophysiological conditions, we have developed a 3D in-vitro bi-cellular biomimetic platform, called blood vessel-on-a-chip, which facilitates the identification of the key factors involved in perivascular diseases. Specifically, we study the role of cell-cell interaction mediated by cadherins in perivascular contractility and barrier function of the blood endothelium. To further investigate important genes involved in these two cell types affecting their functionality or their intracellular communications, we developed lentiviral synthetic biology tools, such as CrispR and Chemical Inducible Dimerization (CID). In summary, this bi-cellular model demonstrates the continuous and rapid modulation of adhesive interactions between perivascular cells and endothelial cells and its impact on vascular barrier function, and highlights a new in vitro platform to study the biology of perivascular-endothelial interactions. We anticipate that this new biomimetic microfluidic system in conjunction with stem cells and organ specific cells would be crucial in deciphering complex disease mechanisms and in identifying novel treatments involved in kidney diseases and cancer. Finally, organ-on-a-chip is a first step towards to the development of new technologies applied in personalized medicine, such as 3D printing autologous organs for transplantation.

All the best,

Ana Lopez
Assistant to the Dean and Office Manager
Nguyen Engineering Building, Suite 5100
4400 University Drive, MS 4A3
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-993-1497 Phone
[cid:part21.02040308.04040409@gmu.edu]