Mentors
Project Description
Engineered cardiac tissues (ECT) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells will spontaneously contract with a “heartbeat” caused by successive action potentials. The dynamics of that contractility can be used to evaluate tissue phenotype and to assess tissue health and maturation. One common way to evaluate contractility dynamics is to monitor deflection of compliant polymer structures anchoring the ECT.
In the Bifano Lab, we pioneered a high-throughput platform to monitor that deflection for a large array of ECTs simultaneously. Another way to evaluate contractility dynamics is to monitor fluorescence of chemical indicators of calcium ions. Action potentials cause a rapid influx of calcium ions, and consequently a flash of light at each ECT heartbeat. The flash of light is dim, however, so the challenge in this project is to design a fluorescence imaging system capable of monitoring calcium transients in a large array of ECTs using the high-throughput platform.
Research Participant
Program: INM RET
Hear how Christopher Alba took what he learned back to his classroom.
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Research Goals
Learning Goals
Timeline
Week 1: Orientation; review of literature; Hands on training.
Weeks 2-3: Analysis and modeling; fluorescence imaging experiments; mock-ups of illumination and sensing.
Weeks 4-5: Integration of fluorescence imaging subsystem in the high-throughput platform; Measurement of ECT fluorescence dynamics.
Week 6: Reporting and assessment of progress.