Stem Cell Biosystems Engineering is an innovative approach for studying the mechanisms that modulate the pluripotency of human stem cells, and aims at contributing to a better understanding of the molecular and cellular events that regulate stem cell function. As model systems, we will employ in vitro platforms to study the cellular events involved in lineage commitment and further maturation of stem cells. The influence of microenvironmental stimuli on pluripotency will be investigated due to their capacity to modulating intracellular signaling pathways, and based on phenotypic and global analyses, modeling approaches will be used to uncover complex interactions between different signaling input. The ultimate goal is to develop predictive models of signaling networks from such raw data, study the dynamic regulation of pluripotency circuit components, and gain new insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying multilineage cell specification, ultimately enabling novel tools for Regenerative and Precision Medicine, including stem cell-based therapies, and thus positively impacting health and welfare.
Selected publications:
Miranda, C.C., Fernandes, T.G., Diogo, M.M., Cabral, J.M.S. Towards Multi-Organoid Systems for Drug Screening Applications. Bioengineering (Basel) 5(3). pii: E49 (2018).
Miranda, C.C., Fernandes, T.G., Pinto, S.N., Prieto, M., Diogo, M.M., Cabral, J.M.S. A scale out approach towards neural induction of human induced pluripotent stem cells for neurodevelopmental toxicity studies. Toxicol Lett 294:51-60 (2018).
Barbosa, H.S.C, Fernandes, T.G., Dias, T.P., Diogo, M.M., Cabral, J.M.S. New Insights into the Mechanisms of Embryonic Stem Cell Self-Renewal under Hypoxia: a Multifactorial Analysis Approach. PLoS One 7(6):e38963 (2012).
Fernandes, T.G., Kwon, S-J., Bale, S.S., Lee, M-Y., Diogo, M.M., Clark, D.S., Cabral, J.M.S., Dordick, J.S. Three-dimensional cell culture microarray for high-throughput studies of stem cell fate. Biotechnol Bioeng 106(1):106-118 (2010).
Fernandes, T.G., Kwon, S.J., Lee, M.Y., Clark, D.S., Cabral, J.M.S., Dordick, J.S. An On-Chip, Cell-Based Microarray Immunofluorescence Assay for High-Throughput Analysis of Target Proteins. Anal Chem 80(17):6633-6639 (2008).