Cell Engineering & Biomicrofluidic Systems

 | Post date: 2022/03/8 | 


Head: Dr. Mohammad Tafazoli Shadpour, Dr. Iman Shabani
Technicians: Zohreh Darainejad, Elham Torkashvand, Mahsa Dadkhah
Phone:
Email: tafazoliaut.ac.ir; shabaniaut.ac.ir; z_daraienejadaut.ac.ir; Elham.taut.ac.ir;
Mahsal374aut.ac.ir
Address: Department of Biomecial Engineering, Room number 806


Introduction:
Laboratory of Cell Engineering and Biomicrofluidic Systems operates under the supervision of Dr. Mohammad Tafazoli Shadpour and Dr. Iman Shabani.
Our laboratory includes both chemical and cellular sections and has the required equipment for both of these divisions. Our research projects in this laboratory mainly focus on the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds, the design of drug delivery systems, biomodeling, and the development of biomicrofluidic systems. Also, various studies on different cell lines, specially stem cells, and the effect of various signals on their behaviors are performed in our laboratory.

Biomicrofluidic chips
are among the new topics in medical engineering with growing utilization in numerous fields such as building drug delivery systems and biosensors, studying cellular behaviors, and tissue engineering-related applications. The unique function of these systems is owed to their small size; for instance in microelectronics, a transistor is a small unit whose performance has been improved due to its compact size. In microelectromechanical components, such as an accelerator in an airbag or a washing liquids; the smaller the part size, the faster it reacts, the less energy it needs to operate, and the less sensitive it is to environmental vibrations. Cells are an example of these small units in biology. Cells are highly sensitive to the environment and respond to any environmental alteration. Therefore, researchers in cell biology have focused their attention on methods with the ability to control the microenvironment around the cell or make it more feasible for a detailed analysis. Mathematics, physics, and computer sciences are used to understand and model the response of cells to stimuli and comprehend how these stimuli affect cell function. A new type of laboratory equipment called the on-chip laboratory has emerged in the field of medical engineering. The advent of lab-on-chip has reduced the cost of analysis in medical experiments. Lab-on-chip also called a microfluidic system, is a small chip with multifunctional features. Most of these pieces of equipment have disposable features, low production costs, and are portable. They can also save time and money on testing as well as sample consumption.


 



Tissue engineering is an alternative method for traditional transplantation techniques. To develop biological replacements to repair damaged tissue and restore organ function, it has been a major part of medical engineering research over the past few decades. Tissue engineering is the construction of new tissue for therapeutic purposes and the repair of the human body, which is achieved by applying chemical, mechanical, electromagnetic, and topographic stimuli to the target cells. For accurate spatial and temporal transmission of these signals, a device must be designed to control this process. Scaffolds are the constructs that are usually utilized in tissue engineering for this purpose. Therefore, choosing suitable materials and fabrication methods for scaffold construction is the first step that should be considered in tissue engineering. Another pillar of tissue engineering is cells. Cell transplantation is one of the most promising approaches in tissue engineering. Stem cells are commonly used for tissue engineering as well as clinical applications. Stem cells have a significant ability to differentiate into different types of cells in the body. Besides, in many tissues, stem cells are used as an internal tissue repair system. Stem cells have two key characteristics of self-regeneration and differentiation that distinguish them from other cells.

Drug Delivery Systems:
Systemical delivery (orally or by intravenous injection) is the most common method for delivering most drugs to patients. If the drug does not have a suitable carrier, the utilization of these delivery methods results in enzymatic destruction of drugs and/or drug absorbance by non-target tissues; as a result, a large dose of medication is required to achieve the desired result. This is also a challenge in cell therapy. Cell therapy also requires a large volume of cells as a significant portion of the cells are destroyed after injection into the host tissue. Also, some drugs, such as growth factors and differentiation factors, have characteristics such as high biological activity, short half-life, low penetration into the tissue, and toxicity at high concentrations. Thus they must be administered topically to be effective. Therefore, a controlled release system should be utilized to transfer these factors. The design of controlled release carriers with different biomaterials in the form of hydrogels, nanoparticles, nanofibers, and films, is a promising approach for drug delivery systems and cell therapy.


Cellular engineering and mechanobiology:
Decades of experience in the treatment of diseases have shown that one of the most important therapeutic methods is the use of empowered cells in the body in accordance with pathological conditions or external factors. Therefore, in addition to the use of biomaterials in the design and use of implants and technologically engineered tissues in the laboratory, recently special attention has been paid to empowering cells with environmental stimuli for tissue regeneration. An example of these studies is the physical stimulation of stem cells in order to control their differentiation path toward target cells with specific functions. For instance, applying uniaxial tensile stress, planar tensile stress, hydrostatic pressure, or shear loads on stem cells to enable them to differentiate into tendon, heart, cartilage, or bone, and endothelial cells with proper function helps in tissue regeneration. Also, the regulation of mechanical properties of the cell culture bed influences the function of transplanted cells to optimize cellular behavior in the target tissue. It also plays an important role in changing the behavior of cancer cells and has led to novel ideas based on the induction of the altered mechanical properties of the cancerous tissues’ extracellular matrix, for cancer treatment. In this regard, engineering cells with proper function after transplantation for therapeutic purposes is one of the most important goals in our research.


We are ready to advise and corporate in the implementation of academic and industrial projects which are related to our goals in this laboratory.
 
 

 

 If you are interested in collaborating with this research lab, you can contact Dr. tafazoli (tafazoliaut.ac.ir) , Dr. Shabani (shabaniaut.ac.ir)



View: 485 Time(s)   |   Print: 109 Time(s)   |   Email: 0 Time(s)   |   0 Comment(s)