News & Events / BME Seminar Series / Current Speakers / 2020-21Rhima Coleman, PhD
BME Seminar Series Spring 2021
Thursday, April 15, 2021, 4:15-5:15 pm
This event will be held via Zoom
Host: Professor Guillermo Ameer
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Michigan
Associate Editor:
Journal of Cartilage and Joint Preservation
Regulation of Stem Cell Phenotype on Both Sides of the Cell Membrane
While tissue engineering with adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) offer exciting alternative therapies for repairing traumatic cartilage injury, many challenges remain with respect to engineering a functional replacement, due, in part, to our incomplete understanding of microenvironmental influences on stem cell fate and chondrocyte maturation. I will present a pre-chondrogenic stem cell niche developed in my lab in which we systematically investigate the combinatorial effects of multiple exogenous cues on early chondrogenesis and long-term phenotype in a high-throughput format. To regulate cell phenotype from the inside of the cell, we have designed a gene circuit that silence the activity of transcription factors known to drive chondrocyte maturation towards the bone formation pathway. In these ways, we aim to improve chondrogenesis and phenotypic stability of adult MSCs and ultimately their success in generating functional cartilage tissue.
Learn more about Dr. Rhima Coleman and their research here.