Science Spotlight

EXPLORING BIOPHYSICAL CUES: UNRAVELING MECHANOTRANSDUCTION IN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL DIRECTED DIFFERENTIATION

Organized by: Dana Brinson, University of Toronto, Canada
Golnaz Karoubi, University Health Network, Canada

This session will explore the interplay between biophysical cues and pluripotent stem cell differentiation. Participants will hear about current progress in leveraging the mechanical microenvironment to improve the fidelity of stem cell-derived tissues. Recent advancements in our understanding of how mechanotransduction directs cell fate via epigenomic changes will be discussed, providing a comprehensive update on the current state of knowledge in this emerging subject.

4:00 - 4:05 Dana Brinson, University of Toronto, Canada
Golnaz Karoubi, University Health Network, Canada
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

4:05 - 4:30 Sara Wickström, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Germany
MECHANICAL REGULATION OF STEM CELL STATE

4:30 - 4:55 Claudia Loebel, University of Michigan, USA
NASCENT MATRIX DEPOSITION GUIDES IPSC-DERIVED ALVEOLAR ORGANOID FUNCTION IN SYNTHETIC HYDROELS

4:55 - 5:15 Dylan Mostert, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
BREAKING BARRIERS FOR NEXT-GENERATION THERAPIES: MECHANIOSENSITIVITY OF STEM CELL-DERIVED CARDIOMYOCYTES

5:15 – 5:30 Three rapid-fire poster trainee poster presentations, to be selected from the accepted poster abstracts
Iona Grace, Thelwall, University of Cambridge, UK
Dana Brinson, University of Toronto, Canada
Wei Jiang, Wuhan University, China