Chemical Engineering Seminar

University of Louisville
The Department of Chemical Engineering
Fall 2008 Seminar Series

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon
October 31, 2008
Ernst Hall, Room 310

“Engineering of physical and chemical cues capable of modulating embryonicstem cell differentiation”

Todd C. McDevitt, Ph.D.
The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the unique ability to differentiate into all somatic cell types, but effective use of pluripotent cells for regenerative therapies requires an improved understanding and engineering of environmental mechanisms regulating cell fate. Differentiation of ESCs in vitro is commonly induced via 3D cell aggregates in suspension, referred to as “embryoid bodies” (EBs), which yield a heterogeneous population of ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm cells. Currently, most directed differentiation schemes consist solely of applying soluble factors exogenously to stem cell cultures. However, enhanced methods to control mechanical and biochemical cues influencing cell morphogenesis may result in increased efficiency and homogeneity of stem cell differentiation. Thus, we have been examining the ability to control the differentiation of EBs via 1) hydrodynamic mixing conditions imposed by rotary orbital suspension culture and 2) incorporation of degradable microparticles releasing morphogenic factors within EBs. These efforts represent novel engineering approaches capable of being integrated directly into stem cell bioprocessing methods to improve the differentiation of ESCs for regenerative cell therapies.