ELECTRO NEEDLE SIGNED

Project "ELECTRO NEEDLE" data sheet

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 Partnership

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 Project objective

Stem cell-based therapies to cure nerve system disorders using the self-renewal and multilineage differentiation capacities of the transplanted stem cells have been drawing attention during the past decade. Especially, differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into neural cells are especially investigated since early 2000’s, thanks to their being much less prone to the ethical issues and the risk of developing teratoma. However, the critical challenges are the difficulty in: (i) guiding their proper differentiation to neural cells, and (ii) tracking their fate, distribution, and migration due to the limited tracking methods. In 2015, the Stevens Group at Imperial College London (ICL) developed high-aspect ratio, porous silicon nanoneedles (pSi nNs) for in vitro and in vivo manipulation of cell behaviour. Remarkably, the nNs penetrate the cell membrane but do not damage the nucleus, instead stimulating nuclear condensation (Published in Nat. Mater., ACS Nano, etc.). However, current nNs in the Stevens Group is degradable within 48 hrs which is not ideal for long-term biological studies, especially for detecting/monitoring the cell differentiation during the culture. Recently, the applicant (Dr Hyejeong Seong) newly developed non-porous, solid version of nNs after her joining to the Stevens Group in March 2017. The new nNs exhibited a high stability in cell culture media and buffer solutions, proving their suitability for long-term investigation of cell fate. This provides an ideal framework for manipulating and exploiting cell behaviour for longer periods as a means for understanding differentiation capacity of this promising stem cell source. Furthermore, we’re expecting that the new nNs are modifiable as conductive electronic sensors, byintegrating new nNs with non-cytotoxic electronic devices. Through these devices, cell morphologies and endogenous receptors, will be assayed without invasive immunoassay.