Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Division of Stem Cell Biology
Mechanostimulation to direct differentiation of embryoid bodies
Investigation of EB differentiation. (A) Phase contrast images of a self-detaching iPSC colony from vitronectin micro-contact printed substrates. (B) DNA methylation biomarkers for specific germ layers. The differentiation scores reflect cell-type specific results upon directed differentiation. (C) Exemplary images of EBs derived from wild type (WT) and YAP knockout iPSCs (YAP-/-) that are stained for brachyury (mesoderm), GATA6 (endoderm), PAX6 (ectoderm), or actin.
Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-2): Mechanobiology, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Breast gland development and cell invasion in strained microenvironments
Workflow in A2 to elucidate strain-induced mechanotransduction circuits in normal breast gland and cancer development.
Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy (MOCA), Uniklinik RWTH Aachen
Mechanobiology of human embryo implantation
The scheme [20] highlights details of endometrial differentiation during the window of implantation. The junctional complex is redistributed from its apicolateral position to the entire lateral cell border. The apical microvillar brush border is reduced and actin-rich protrusions, so called pinopodes, are formed. The underlying connective tissue compartment is also profoundly changed referred to as decidualization, which includes mesenchymal to epithelial transition of resident fibrablasts into decidual cells and changes in composition and biomechanics of the ECM. The embryo responds to the contact with the endometrium by increased osmotic pressure and thereby compresses the adjacent endotmetrial epithelium. (B) The traction force plots of endometrial epithelial Ishikawa cell monolayers growing on soft 4 kPa subtrates reveal differences in the absence and presence of hormones (E2, estradiol; MPA, medroxyprogesterone acetate). (C) Dispase adhesion assays detect differences in the mechanical stress response in three endometrial epithelial cell lines with different degrees of polarization. (D) The scheme and microscopy image illustrate the workflow to produce standardized, single cell-derived trophoblast spheroids (green) for adhesion tests on endometrial epithelial cell (EEC) monolayers of different origin growing under defined hormonal and mechanophysical conditions.
Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-2): Mechanobiology, Forschungszentrum Jülich
Toward quantitative modeling and simulations of structure formation in epithelium – relating tissue topology and homeostasis
Quantitative analysis and modeling of interaction of epithelial tissues and the environment. (A) An example of experiments for stretching a colony of MDCK cells. (B) Analysis of experimental images with well-established methods to follow individual cells and quantify different properties of cells such as distribution of cell area as plotted here. (C) Continuum models developed to describe the dynamics of the spatial profile of cell density (n) with cell velocity (v) and active terms (k). The results fit very well with the colony growth experiments. (D) Simulation of growth and stretching of tissues at the level of individual cells (vertex model). (A-D) own unpublished data.
