The following post is the abstract that I recently submitted for the BMES Annual Conference. Introduction: Permeable membranes provide a physiologically relevant cell culture substrate for in vitro study of barrier cell types, such as endothelial cells, which assume a…

To continue our spreading and proliferation experiments on various topographical features and stiffness, I repeated the HUVEC experiments I had done before due to a possible artificial bias that we think is a result of high seeding.  To enusre accuracy,…

In order to investigate the breakage of nanoporous nitride hemodialysis chips during rat dialysis, we are investigating the pressures in the system. We will investigate normal operating pressures as well as potential impulse pressures from handling or valve operation. To…

Conventional tissue culture substrates do not accurately emulate in vivo surface conditions. This project involves the development and characterization of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate for cell culture. PDMS is an important biomaterial due to its optical transparency, biocompatibility, and variable elastic…

Just wanted to show the detail of PETL channels.  A couple of interesting things:  The adhesive layer(s) are pretty thick, and look pretty smooth after heat curation.  Also, the channels are slightly beveled, probably due to craft cutter blade.

Utilizing a cation-exchange membrane like Nafion makes it possible to electrically induce the concentration difference across the membrane. The resulting osmosis of water augments the overall flowrate in addition to the electroosmosis. The thinner the membrane, the stronger the osmotic…

Summary The CEIS project ended in June, and I am summarizing the last few weeks of activities below by Josh and me.  We did a little more work on reducing the SU-8 film stress through the processing conditions.  We also…

Name Place Email Description of Interests Status of Discussion Pierre Olivier, organizer Paris pierre-olivier.couraud@inserm.fr No contact Nicola Marchi (Luca’s friend) Montpellier, France Nicola.Marchi@igf.cnrs.fr  No contact Lester Drewes (Organizing committee) U Minn (organizing committee ldrewes@d.umn.edu  exosome islation from plasma  No contact…

A quick update since we last talked about how DNA controls were proving to be problematic: Things are working again (more or less). I went back top basics, remade most of my solution, ordered new DNA samples, and, most importantly,…

Purpose: To investigate the formation of focal adhesions (FAs) on various cell culture substrates, including TCP, SiO2 membranes, and PDMS membranes. Background: FAs are large macromolecular assemblies through which mechanical force and regulatory signals are transmitted between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and…