We develop frontier tools for cell modelling, including microengineered stem cell niches, microfluidic bioreactors and miniaturised windows for intravital imaging. Our long-term goal is to develop the potential of engineered tissue-equivalents and organoids in cell modelling, drug discovery and regenerative medicine. By working at the interface between engineering and biology, we investigate the spatial and temporal effects of various micro-environmental factors, including three dimensionality (3D) of the cell environment and isotropy of the applied forces, on stem cell renewal and differentiation. Our skills in 3D:
- Static/perfused culture of adherent cells
- Cell biochemical assays
- Histology on pellets and tissue
- Fluorescence imaging
- Transfection and transduction
- Tissue engineering
- Multiphysics computational modelling
Funded research projects
- Miniaturised substrates for stem cell culture: ERC-funded projects NICHOID, NICHOIDS and NICHILD, ESA-funded project NICHOID-ET, MUR-funded project LUNGCHILDMSC
- Miniaturised optically-accessible bioreactors: ERC-funded projects MOAB and NICHILD, NC3Rs-funded project MOAB, MUR-funded project LUNGCHILDMSC
- Miniaturised imaging windows implantable in living organisms: ERC-funded project BEACONSANDEGG, EC-funded project IN2SIGHT, MUR-funded project BEYOND
Equipment
- Bioreactor for 3D tissue culture under surface perfusion
- Bioreactor for 3D tissue culture under interstitial perfusion (video tutorial)
- Bioreactor for 3D tissue culture under combined regimens of hydrostatic pressure and interstitial perfusion
- Bioreactor for 3D tissue culture under pulsatile stretch (video tutorial)
- Microfluidic bioreactor for 3D tissue culture with optical accessibility (video tutorial)
- Confocal microscope with integrated cell culture chamber (Fluoview FV10i, Olympus)
- Microscope, inverted bright light/phase contrast/fluorescence (IX70, Olympus)
- Video camera, high resolution color (4083.CL3, Optika)
- Oxygen imaging system (VisiSens A1- Presens)
- Syringe pump, multi-channel programmable (PHDULTRA, Harvard Apparatus)
- Peristaltic pump, multi-channel programmable (520U, Watson Marlow)
- Cabinet, class II bio-safety (M25121, MDH)
- Cabinet chemical safety (GS800 BASE, Vetrotecnica)
- Incubator, CO2 standard (5420-1, Napco)
- Incubator, CO2 with oxygen control 1-19% and Humidity control 0-97% (IcoMed 50, Memmert)
- Centrifuge, refrigerated (3-16PK, Sigma)
- Multimode reader, monochromator with DNA nanoquant (Infinite M200Pro, Tecan)
- Cryotome (HM500 OM, Microm)
- Microtome (2218, LKB)
- Autoclave, bench top (NT80, Golmar)
- Balance, high precision electronic (Analytical Plus, Ohaus)
- Vertical refrigerators/freezers 4°C /-20°, ultra-freezer – 80°C (Sanyo)
- Dewar, liquid nitrogen (Millenium 2000, Chart)
- Vortex mixer (2×3, Velp)
- Shaker, orbital/parallel (PS-M3D, Grant Bio)
- Hot air sterilizing oven (DISA)
- Stirred water bath (SBS30, Stuart Scientific)
ERC-NICHOID lab
- Cabinet, class II bio-safety (Top Safe 1.2, Bioair)
- Incubator, CO2 standard (S@fegrow 188, Euroclone)
- Vertical refrigerator/freezer 4°C /-20° C (KRFDC 2711, KW Apparecchi Scientifici)
- UV curing high intensity lamp (DYMAX 5000-EC, Ellsworth)
- Ultra-sonification bath (DU 100, Argolab)
- Confocal microscope equipped with resonant scanner and GASP detection, culture chamber for live imaging acquisition. Nikon A1-R+ (Nikon, Japan)
- 2 x Workstation Dell PowerEdge T630, 2xCPU, 64Gb RAM ECC, GPU Nvidia 1080Ti (12Gb RAM)
Lab Life