{"396841":{"#nid":"396841","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Kristin French","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKristin French\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EBME Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;Defense\u0026nbsp;Presentation\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E3:00PM,\u0026nbsp;Thursday, April 30th, 2015\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003ESOM 178P\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EEmory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor: Michael E. Davis,\u0026nbsp;PhD\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003ESchool of Biomedical\u0026nbsp;Engineering, Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EThomas Barker, Ph.D. -\u0026nbsp;Department\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;Biomedical\u0026nbsp;Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EAlejandra San Martin, Ph.D. - School of Medicine, Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EW. Robert Taylor, M.D., Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;-\u0026nbsp;School of Medicine, Emory University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003EManu O. Platt,\u0026nbsp;Ph.D.\u0026nbsp;-\u0026nbsp;Department\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;Biomedical\u0026nbsp;Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0022Microenvironmental Stimulation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp align=\u0022left\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHeart failure, predominately caused by myocardial infarction (MI), is the leading cause of death in the United States.\u0026nbsp; Currently the only treatment for heart failure is cardiac transplantation, but studies show that progenitor cell, biomaterial, or combined therapies have improved cardiac function post-MI.\u0026nbsp; The endogenous environment of CPCs is drastically different from commonly used culture conditions.\u0026nbsp; Further the endogenous environment changes with disease state with increases in collagen I content.\u0026nbsp; We evaluated the behavior of CPCs cultured on a naturally-derived, cardiac extracellular matrix (cECM) as compared to the standard culture coating collagen I, that also mimics fibrotic tissue.\u0026nbsp; In this study, CPCs cultured on cECM had improved cell numbers and cardiomyogenic maturation.\u0026nbsp; However, the microenvironmental cues responsible for stimulating CPC activation are largely unknown.\u0026nbsp; During development, aging and disease the myocardium changes in matrix composition and stiffness exposing endogenous cells to a wide variety of stimuli.\u0026nbsp; In a combinatorial study, we evaluate the effect of cyclic strain and extracellular matrix composition on CPC behavior.\u0026nbsp; The response of CPCs to signals from the microenvironment is complex, with more matrix-dependency observed at lower strains.\u0026nbsp; Alignment, cell division and paracrine signaling are extracellular matrix and strain dependent.\u0026nbsp; Extracellular matrix conditions affect CPC maturation and calcium signaling. Mechanotransduction pathways, including focal adhesion kinase are activated through adhesion and maintained under cyclic strain.\u0026nbsp; Insights from this work will advance pragmatic cell therapy attempts to regenerate healthy myocardium post-MI.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Microenvironmental Stimulation of Cardiac Progenitor Cells"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2015-04-16 12:00:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:11:35","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2015-04-30T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2015-04-30T18:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2015-04-30T18:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2015-04-30 20:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2015-04-30 22:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2015-04-30 22:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"1366","name":"defense"},{"id":"1808","name":"graduate students"},{"id":"913","name":"PhD"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}