Dr. Keekyoung Kim (University of Calgary)

Title: A High-Throughput Stretchable 3D Cellular Microarray Platform for Mechanobiology Study

Abstract: Cells in the human body are subjected to various mechanical stimuli from their microenvironment that regulate cell fate and function. Although two-dimensional (2D) cell responses to mechanical stimuli have been well established, real cellular microenvironments are in 3D. Moreover, existing 3D cell culture models to evaluate the effect of mechanical cues neither offer high-throughput nor evaluate various mechanical cues. To address this need, we developed a stretchable high-throughput platform that can apply dynamic mechanical stimulation to cells encapsulated in 3D microgel array.

This talk will highlight the platform we developed in our lab that was based on the bioprinted cell-laden gelatin methacrylate microgel array on an elastic substrate. It was later periodically stretched to screen cell mechanoresponse. The ability of the platform in transferring the applied strain to the particles embedded within microgels as stretched was tested. Also, biocompatibility, such as cell viability and proliferation, was investigated. Our findings show that our platform is biocompatible to allow 3D cellular network formation within the microgels and completely transfer the strain from the stretched substrate to the cells. We also performed the high-throughput analysis of cell mechanoresponse throughout the printed microgel array and computed the cell alignment trend. It was also repeated by printing various concentrations of GelMA thus presenting different stiffness microenvironment to the cells in combination with the dynamic stretch stimuli. This platform can be scaled up to introduce a wide range of other extracellular cues and we believe the developed platform will provide a promising solution for screening multiple biological parameters facilitating tissue engineering research.

Dr. Fred Menard (University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus)

Title: New Photoactive Molecular Probes to Study Proteins in Living Cells

Abstract: Despite all the amazing advances in molecular sciences, understanding the exact role that individual proteins play in a cell is still a challenge. Chemical approaches can complement nicely the current state-of-the-art methods of molecular biology. Our lab develops such new chemical tools to study native proteins in living cells.

This talk will highlight how small molecules can be modified to monitor, tag, or control protein function in cells. More specifically, our studies on proteins involved in critical neurobiological processes will be presented. They include membrane proteins such as: glutamate receptors, voltage-gated calcium channels, and integrins. We have created a number of molecular probes that are photoactive, either as reporter probes, or as activity-triggers. Together, these small molecules help us gain unprecedented insight in the function of native proteins in cells like neurons.

Dr. Keng Chou (University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus)

Title: Virus Assembly Under Super-resolution Microscopy

Abstract: Super-resolution microscopy was used to answer one of the most fundamental questions regarding the assembly mechanisms of enveloped viruses: how do the major components of a virus particle find each other? The current model for most enveloped viruses suggests that matrix proteins recruit attachment and fusion glycoproteins to the assembly site at the plasma membrane. Recent developments in super-resolution microscopy allow us to visualize this process at a nanometer scale. Our studies on the Nipah virus suggest a new assembly model that differs in many aspects from the current model. While matrix proteins assemble at the plasma membrane to form virus-like-particles, the incorporation of attachment and fusion glycoproteins into the nascent VLPs is stochastic.