{"id":5740,"date":"2024-05-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/?p=5740"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:57:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:57:45","slug":"chen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2024\/05\/01\/chen\/","title":{"rendered":"An In Vitro Model of the Infarct Border Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Mentors<\/h3>\n<p><span>\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-4511 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-bme departments-mse-dept affiliation-faculty program-year-yr-2018 program-year-yr-2021 program-year-yr-2022 program-year-yr-2023\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/christopher-chen\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2023\/01\/Chen-Chris-112017-21336-1-600x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Christopher Chen**<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Professor (BME, MSE)<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-5762 profile type-profile status-publish hentry departments-bme affiliation-postdoctoral program-year-yr-2024\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/profile\/claudia-varela\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\"><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/Claudia-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Claudia Varela<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Postdoctoral Fellow<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Project Description<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The severity of a heart attack is determined by the area of heart muscle affected by the occluded vessel<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, but also<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> by a<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2018<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">border zone<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2019 <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">(BZ) that separates the infarct region from the unaffected heart muscle.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> The BZ has <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">been implicated<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in adverse remodeling that occurs after a heart attack, but because the <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">region<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> is difficult to isolate and study using animal models, how BZ biology contributes to disease progression remains largely unknown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To study BZ biology, the Chen lab is engineering a cardiac microtissue model that recapitulates BZ biology and biomechanics. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Together with<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Claudia Varela, a postdoctoral researcher in the Chen lab, the REU student will help <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with the design and manufacturing of<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> prototypes of the culture system and conduct experiments to assess BZ induction into the cardiac microtissues.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> This model will enable studies that elucidate how the region evolves and provide key design criteria for interventions that need to interface with that region, such as the cardiac patches <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">being engineered<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in CELL-MET.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\" bu-callout alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-636x424.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"636\" height=\"424\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5958\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/files\/2025\/01\/20240801_REU-Lab-Headshots-Lea-001-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Research Participant<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Program: CELL-MET REU\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hear Lea Hebert talk about her summer experience!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href='https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/2024\/08\/08\/lea-hebert\/' class='button button'>Learn More<\/a><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Research Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Manufacture devices, learn cardiac tissue seeding, and produce a focal injury to induce a BZ-like phenotype.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Quantifying biomechanical BZ features: visualize and quantitatively evaluate tissue force <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">as well as<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> perform biological assays to quantify markers of BZ biology. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><div class=\"bu_collapsible_container \" aria-live=\"polite\" data-customize-animation=\"false\"><h3 class=\"bu_collapsible\" aria-expanded=\"false\"tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">Learning Goals<\/h3><div class=\"bu_collapsible_section\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gain technical expertise in device engineering and cardiac biology.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wet lab skills such as induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes and cell maintenance, immunofluorescence, PCR, as well as manufacturing of cardiac microtissue culture devices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gain experience in experimental design and data analysis.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Timeline<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 1:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Orientation in the lab, manufacturing cardiac microtissue devices, and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">learning iPSC culture.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 2-5:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Conduct the first round of iPSCs differentiation, microtissue seeding, BZ induction protocol, and quantification. Optimize the induction protocol as needed.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Weeks 6-9:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Conduct the first round of iPSCs differentiation, microtissue seeding, BZ induction protocol, and quantification.<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #003366;\"><strong>Week 10:<\/strong><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Finish data analysis and synthesize final presentation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors Project Description The severity of a heart attack is determined by the area of heart muscle affected by the occluded vessel, but also by a\u2018border zone\u2019 (BZ) that separates the infarct region from the unaffected heart muscle. The BZ has been implicated in adverse remodeling that occurs after a heart attack, but because the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19768,"featured_media":4263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[125,67],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19768"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5740"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9391,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5740\/revisions\/9391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/photonics-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}