Elisa Nieves

BME PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: 2023-02-20
Time: 11:00 am
Location / Meeting Link: Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Suddath 1128; https://gatech.zoom.us/j/98098894943

Committee Members:
Andrés J. García, Ph.D. (Advisor) Edward Botchwey, Ph.D. Jeroen Eyckmans, Ph.D. Wilbur Lam, M.D. Ph.D. Alyssa Panitch, Ph.D.


Title: Evaluating focal adhesion kinase-mediated extracellular matrix remodeling during tissue repair and fibrosis

Abstract:
Fibroblasts and myofibroblasts play a key role in maintaining tissue homeostasis and remodeling the extracellular matrix. Dysregulated activity of these cells can result in scar tissue formation or fibrotic diseases leading to overall impaired tissue function. Being able to modulate the response of fibroblastic cells provides an attractive avenue to being able to mitigate tissue fibrosis and promote tissue regeneration. This project aims to study the activation and termination of fibroblasts and myofibroblast in the context of dermal wound healing and idiopathic lung fibrosis. The main outcomes of this project will be the development of two in vitro microtissue models of dermal wound healing and idiopathic lung fibrosis that will be used to study the progression of each condition. Advantages of this platform is the ability to generate a biomimetic multi-force environment to study matrix repair and remodeling driven by cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Additionally, the microtissue platform is medium throughput and has high optical clarity making it well-suited for quantitative fluorescence microscopy. Using an initial animal model to correlate changes in cell populations with changes in the tissue morphology and extracellular matrix, I plan to identify critical stages in disease development for further investigation into possible mechanisms of action using our in vitro microtissue model. Studying these processes will provide additional insight to the disease pathophysiology driven by cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions with the possibility to identify new potential therapeutic approaches.