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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

E arly

M o n d a y

m o r n i n g

we began

with safety training to make certain we

were properly trained to safely perform

our research in the lab. We began learning

how tissue engineering has helped pa-

tients, either as new models are devel-

oped to study tissues, or in the clinical

setting such as controlling or enhancing

wound healing. We’re also learning how

to keep a scientific lab notebook and were

given an introduction to our tissue engi-

neering labs. That was just the first day

and we have not stopped since! In the lab

we have all learned how to properly pi-

pette, use serological pipettes, make serial

dilutions, use a spectrophotometer, use

sterile technique, make media, and use

light transmitting microscopes to visualize

cells. Tuesday, we were given an overview

of how to best utilize the UCSD library,

which will be critical for our ethics and

research papers. We have had the oppor-

tunity to refine our Excel skills, hear about

current topics in tissue engineering, and

learn more about how cells differentiate

into epithelial, connective, nerve or mus-

cle cells and their fate as they may be used

for motion, adhesion, or secretion. At this

point we definitely have a clearer under-

standing of tissue engineering. In our sci-

entific communications section the discus-

sions have been focused on how people

learn, how to effectively communicate and

we had a brief introduction to our ethics

project. Overall we have had an amazing

start because the brilliant, hard-working,

young minds in Cluster 8 are great!

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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE The end of the first week was GR8! We wrapped up the week with a tour of

Sanford Consortium. Dr. Gaetani gave us an overview of the facility and then we were

able to tour many labs and informative mini lectures from leading faculty. “The mission of

the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is to advance stem cell research

through collaborative, multi-disciplinary interactions. Sanford Consortium researchers

are applying the powers of stem cells to promote diagnoses, treatments, and cures for

degenerative diseases and injuries.” (http://www.sanfordconsortium.org/) After the tour

we walked to the Glider Port and enjoyed our ocean view as we ate lunch. And then to

wrap up the week, we had COSMOS Olympics. Our skit, cheer, skills in relay races and

of course brain power (from all our homework) was outstanding. Even though

we did not win we did GR8.

We began our second week in the lab where we learned how to use a

microscope to view stained and unstained cells, how to use a hemocytometer

to count cells, and how to thaw cells. As the week progressed we learned how

to passage cells, to create collagen gels, and continued on our decellularization

and were able to examine histology slides to check on our progress. Chris and

Evan, our TA’s have taken the lead and instruct us through pre and post lab

instructions. They are excellent at making sure everything is explained so we

understand and they take the time to ensure the labs run smoothly. As a result

our decellularization process worked exceptionally well and we have success-

fully been growing cells in culture.

Our lectures and discussions by our distin-

guished faculty, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani have expanded

our knowledge about stem cells, biomaterials, biome-

chanics and commercialization in tissue engineering. As

we increase our comprehension about tissue engineering

we have many more questions and Dr. Sah and Dr.

Gaetani are always eager to help us. This week was excit-

ing as we spent time summarizing our lectures and dis-

cussing different project ideas so that next week we can

begin our much anticipated projects.

We went on our second field trip to the J. Craig

Venter Institute with Cluster 7. During our visit we were

able to learn about their LEED Platinum award winning

building and heard about the different projects that are

under investigation such as the ability to induce diatoms

to produce oil and the genome characterization of the

microorganisms from all of the major bodies of water

worldwide. Our entire group then went on a tour of the

facility, seeing the research labs and the LEED certified

building “that is built to save money and resources and

have a positive impact on the health of occupants, while

promoting renewable, clean energy” (http://www.usgbc.org/leed).

In the communications portion of the cluster we have had the op-

portunity to attend a Discovery Lecture from Dr. Cleland. She spoke to us

about her previous global research opportunities and her current research

that focuses on ecosystem responses to environmental change. Additionally,

we have been discussing the ethical issues in Tissue Engineering and learned

about the ‘COSMOS Ethics in Science Essay Contest’. Each of us has done

background research on our personally selected ethics topic, written a

rough draft of our paper, and we all submitted our final drafts on Thursday.

To end another Great week for Cluster 8 we will go on our third field trip

to Organogenesis.

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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE Week two ended with a field trip to Organogenesis, a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine company which manufactures Dermagraft to help heal diabetic foot ulcers. We were able to see all aspects of the company in action, from research and development to manufacturing. Overall it was an incredible

opportunity to observe first hand many techniques we have learned in the lab and to tour a company that man-ufactures a product devel-oped by tissue engineers. Week three began as our esteemed profes-sor, Dr. Sah, introduced us to proper experimental design. After numerous discussions and considera-

ble evaluation were able to select our own project topics and thus we were ready to begin the planning phase of our work. After two days of researching, planning, brainstorming, and support from Dr. Sah, Dr. Gaetani and our Teaching Assistants, Evan Teng and Chris Yin, everyone was prepared to begin the much anticipated projects. Briefly the groups will be examining fibrillogenesis and gel formation, regulation of chon-drocyte phenotype, regulation of bone growth, cardiac decellularized ECM and collagen hydrogels, liver decellularization, and the generation of microspheres. Accordingly, tissues are being processed, gels formed, cells cultured, and materials are being prepared and tested. After an intense week in the lab our projects are underway and we eagerly await the re-sults in a few days.

Dr. Amaro was our speaker for our Discovery Lecture this week. Her research utilizes computational methods to explore potential drug treatments for diseases such as influenza and cancer. She clearly demon-strated her research process using p53, a tumor suppressor gene and we

were fascinated by her molecular modeling which is accelerating drug discovery. In our communications course everyone has evaluated presen-tations, practiced presenting, reviewed abstracts and learned more about scientific writing. In Cluster Explorations, it was all about cluster pride,

and we were definitely pleased to have their peers hear about what is going on in Cluster 8. Everyone is learning to manage their time, fo-cus, and work together as a group of brilliant young scientific re-searchers. Cluster 8 continues to be ‘GR8’.

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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE At the end of last week everyone had received guidance from our esteemed Professors, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani and felt prepared to complete their back-ground research on their projects over the weekend after their trip to the beach and the carnival. Week 4 began with collaborative meetings to organize supplies, with the help of our highly appreciat-ed TA’s Evan and Chris, and finalizes procedures to ensure the suc-cess of the projects. It was astounding to us just how much planning and preparing was required and we had countless questions that our group leaders were always there to answer. With the expert guidance of Dr. Sah; Shivani, Stephanie and Pravin have been study-ing fibrillogenesis and gel formation, Lauren Jiayi and Ken are inves-tigating the regulation of chondrocytes by bound growth factors, and Jennifer, Grace and Franklin have examined the role of epiphys-eal growth plate matrixes in endochondral ossification. Under the leadership of Dr. Gaetani; Catherine, Annabel and Milan have evaluated sulfate glycosaminoglycan hydrogels for retention and delivery of growth factors, Michelle, Jerome and Ka-rissa have performed liver decellularization in the form of hydrogel, and Phillip, Roshini, and Amanda have worked on the generation of microspheres from cardiac decellularized ECM. Our last Discovery Lecture was from Dr. Shaochen Chen. He spoke to us about his nano manufacturing processes and nano mechanical systems for biomedical and life sciences. Cluster 8 was thrilled with his talk as he went into detail about his work in bio-medical engineering on a small length and time scale and Dr. Chen graciously answered all of our questions! Laboratory time was filled with a tremendous amount of hard work as projects had to be finished. All of the experiments had to get done, data collected, and analysis performed. Then with all of the data in hand, each group had an electronic poster to complete for their presentation, a power point presentation and a research paper. The end of this week will bring COSMOS to a close. The students have mastered their lab skills, polished their technical writing, and spent countless hours developing and implementing their leading edge projects. They will have the opportunity to show off their work to each other on Thursday, to Cluster 7 on Friday, and to family and friends on Saturday. An enormous thank you to our brilliant leaders, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani, and our in-credible Teaching Assistant’s Evan Teng and Chris Yin. Cluster 8 has had a Gr8 summer at COSMOS!