First FSSHH of this year at Homewood!!

Come enjoy the friendly welcome from Homewood at this upcoming FSSHH!

Jake is presenting with food volunteered by Sravanti.

Who: Jake Simson

When: September 17th

Where: Clark 110 Homewood

See you all there!

Title: The application of a chondroitin sulfate-bone marrow adhesive towards

meniscal repair

Abstract: Meniscal injuries may lead to joint degeneration and the development of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. There are few technologies beyond sutures available for surgeons to repair the meniscus, and sutures inherently cause additional damage to the tissue. Adhesives that work to repair meniscus while fixing the tissue in place offer an appealing alternative solution. Here, we demonstrate the use of a NHS-functionalized chondroitin sulfate (CS-NHS) bioadhesive for use in meniscal repair. 10% CS-NHS was mixed with 10% Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) in a 1:1 ratio, and with BM in ratios of 3:7 (70% BM), 1:1 (50% BM), and 7:3 (30% BM). Meniscus cells were encapsulated in gels to quantify in vitro tissue generation, and bovine meniscus explants were glued to observe meniscus cell migration into the adhesive. Constructs were analyzed at one and three weeks using live/dead, H&E staining, and Hoescht dye DNA assays. Glued tissue explants were sectioned and stained with H&E at two and four weeks. Live/dead and Hoescht DNA assays showed statistically significantly higher viability at both time points in CS-BM gels in comparison to CS-PEG. At one week normalized DNA levels increased with BM concentration, but this effect diminished by week three. However, extensive clustering of cells was observed at three weeks in CS-BM gels, indicating cell proliferation. In the explant study cells were observed proliferating on the surface of 70% BM at week two, and at week four cells were seen within the gel proliferating and depositing matrix. These findings indicate that meniscal cell viability in the CS-BM gel remains high after several weeks in culture, they proliferate within the gel, and that meniscal cells are capable of migrating from meniscal tissue first onto the hydrogel surface, and later into BM gels. These are promising preliminary results for the use of CS-BM adhesive in regenerating meniscus tissue.

FSSHH this Friday!

Come to the first FSSHH (Friday Student Seminar and Happy Hour) of the year!

Food and drink and fun; plus learn about the cool work of one of your fellow grad students.

WHO: Matt Fifer, a second year student from Dr. Thakor's lab is giving the talk

WHAT: Decoding grasp kinematics from human electrocorticography (ECoG)

WHERE: Traylor 709

WHEN: 5pm Friday August 27th.

Title:

Decoding grasp kinematics from human electrocorticography (ECoG)

Abstract:

Human electrocorticography (ECoG) is a neural recording modality used for seizure localization in epileptic patients prior to resection surgery. We measured ECoG amplitude in 4 subjects and attempted to predict the degree of grasp aperture during a slow grasping motion of the hand. Decoding accuracy was found to be high (mean r > 0.6), to be relatively invariant to wrist rotation angle, and to require relatively few electrodes to achieve maximal performance. This work is promising for the potential future development of a reliable, low-footprint ECoG-driven neuroprosthetic. Future work is targeting the application of similar methods to more natural reach-to-grasp motions.

FSSHH: Friday April 2 5pm Traylor 709 Med Campus

Presenter: Susan Thompson

Title: Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes Ameliorate Vulnerability for Arrhythmias in an In Vitro Model of Cardiac Fibrosis

Abstract: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an attractive candidate for cardiac regeneration because of their potential to supply a large number of differentiated cardiomyocytes that can integrate into the host tissue, thereby replacing the myocytes lost during myocardial aging, disease or damage. Numerous studies have already demonstrated improved myocardial function with grafts of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs), alluding to possible roles of paracrine effects and direct myocardial regeneration. However, little attention has been given to the electrophysiological benefit that these cells may have on diseased myocardium, and specifically, on cardiac fibrosis, a pathological condition found in aging, heart failure, and myocardial infarction. We therefore set out to characterize the electrophysiological benefits of adding hESC-CMs to our previously reported, in vitro model of cardiac fibrosis. Following engraftment of hESC-CMs from beating hESC-CMs, LCV and TCV of fibrotic monolayers increased to 39.3±2.7 and 12.5±1.3 cm/s, respectively (n=6). In contrast, addition of hESCs from non-beating EBs suppressed LCV and TCV to 6.5±1.3 and 2.1±1 cm/s, respectively (n=4). We show for the first time that hESC-CMs reverse the loss of conduction velocity and reduce the incidence of spiral waves in an in vitro fibrosis model. This finding is significant in that it suggests that specifically hESC-CMs can directly participate in electrical propagation, perhaps through gap junction coupling, and can ameliorate abnormal conduction in fibrotic myocardium.

Last FSSHH of this year: Jacob Koskimaki

Last FSSHH of this year!!!!

Come enjoy Jacob's presentation, free food + drinks and awesome company of fellow BMEers!

Dec 11th (Friday) 5pm at Clark 110.

Title & abstract: Peptide optimization strategies: merging experimental data with bioinformatics tools to develop potent inhibitors of angiogenesis in breast cancer

The emergence of genomics, proteomics and new peptidomics has provided several advances in the data available to develop endogenous regulators of angiogenesis. Angiogeneis, or neovascularization, is the process where new vessels form from a preexisting microvasculature, and involves interactions among several cell types. Tumors require a blood supply to grow; similarly, abrogating this blood supply is an emerging paradigm to treat diseases such as breast cancer. Our laboratory recently developed a systematic bioinformatics-based methodology to identify several endogenous regulators of angiogenesis, and experimentally verified their activity in vitro and in vivo breast xenograft models. We now have begun to optimize these sequences to enhance activity, and show different experimental techniques combined with bioinformatics tools to increase activity of endogenous therapeutics.

FSSHH Friday Nov 6

This Friday Nov 6, 5pm - 6pm, Med school (Traylor 709)

Mohsen Mollazadeh is presenting! Title and abstract coming soon

title: Monitoring of neuronal activity during dexterous hand movements.
abstract: In the first part of the talk, I will present the VLSI circuit we have developed for monitoring neuronal activity in awake behaving studies. In the second part, I will present the study of population neuronal activity in primate's motor cortex during dexterous hand movements. I will present how LFP signals are modulated with various grasp patterns and their relationship to single unit activity.

FSSHH this Friday!!!

This Friday Sept 25th 5pm - 6pm, Med school (Traylor 709)

Kartik is presenting on 'optical techniques and VLSI systems for structural and functional brain imaging'.

See you all there!

Abstract: optical techniques for investigating the brain offer several key strengths - non-contact, minimally invasive, multi-scale (single cells to populations), functional/structural observation. currently, most small animal imaging is restricted to restrained &/or anesthetized animals. electrophysiology in awake, behaving rodents has led to many interesting behavioral results, but imaging in a similar scenario has not been explored well. i've been working on designing miniaturized optical imaging systems that incorporate illumination, optics and image sensing electronics in a small volume device that can be mounted on a rodent for chronic imaging in awake and behaving animals. i'll talk about the design and characterization of the imaging system and the image sensor and some preliminary experiments in rats.

Next FSSHH Friday Sept 11 2009: Sabyasachi Roy

FSSHH Returns this fall on Friday Setp 11, 2009. Sabyasachi Roy will be presenting at Talbot Library (Traylor 709)

Abstract:
Application of multi-channel telemetry in auditory neurophysiology & behavior

The neural basis of vocal control and auditory feedback has long interested neuroscientist and biomedical engineers alike. Our lab has focused on studying the cortical neural activity in the common marmoset in understanding this basic sensory-motor system. The marmoset monkeys (Callithrix Jacchus) is an ideal animal model given the fact that they remain highly vocal in captivity. This essential vocal behavior is primarily elicited when the subject is in a natural behavior state i.e. free roaming condition. Typically, neurophysiological experiments on vocal production and feedback have involved either restrained subjects or tethered setups that severely restrict the behavior of the subject. This is where multi-channel neural telemetry can play a vital role of enabling the vocal behavior of primates during auditory experiments and providing the same quality of neural data as tethered setups. We are developing the essential wireless radio link as well as the backend processing capability to make this technology practical and effective. These small, lightweight wireless devices can continuously transmit multiple channels of neural data from the relevant cortical area of the marmoset while it is engaged in an experimental task. I will briefly highlight our progress in developing custom telemetry system and integrating existing devices as well as the experimental opportunities that this technology opens up.