Award details

Intelligent Stem Cell Culture Systems

Reference	BBS/B/17298
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Chris Toumazou
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Professor Alexander Bismarck, Professor Anthony Cass, Professor Emmanuel Drakakis, Professor Athanassios Mantalaris, Dr Nicki Panoskaltsis, Professor Julia Polak, Professor Milo Shaffer, Professor Frantisek Stepanek
Institution	Imperial College London
Department	Biological Sciences
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	672,359
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	07/03/2005
End date	06/09/2008
Duration	42 months

Abstract

This proposal aims to integrate the expertise of cell biologists, engineers, and clinicians in addressing a key issue in stem cell research and its clinical applications, namely the design of optimal, reproducible, and controlled systems for the production of clinically relevant numbers of high quality stem cells. Haematopoietic culture systems have been selected as the test case based on their clinical significance, tangible clinical applications, and the wealth of culture data for both the adult and embryonic stem cells, which will serve as a measure for comparison. Defining optimal culture parameters for ex vivo expansion of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells is challenging especially since most studies ignore the complex kinetics, transient nature, intricate interactions between parameters, and the lack of invariant measures. Even slight deviations in the culture parameters can affect the final cell output. This project relies on the development of the currently missing bionic link, which is composed of miniaturised sensors and ultra-low-power circuitry, to ensure the on-line, in situ, quantitative determination of crucial culture parameters by generating the physiological profile of stem cells in response to environmental conditions and intrinsic factors. Hence, the overarching deliverable of this research proposal is the identification of a novel knowledge base for stem cell biology based upon the real-time, quantitative monitoring of bioactivity at the cellular and tissue level. This information will be utilised to develop designs needed to increase the efficiency of investigations on the effects of stimulatory (or inhibitory) factors and the culture parameters on haematopoietic culture systems, and to reveal unexpected interactions that would otherwise by missed by conventional analyses. This will result in the creation of a novel research capability/modality pertaining for the reproducible manipulation of stem cells throughout the intelligent design of stem cell culture systems.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Genes & Developmental Biology (GDB)
Research Topics	Industrial Biotechnology, Regenerative Biology, Stem Cells, Technology and Methods Development
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Stem Cell Science and Engineering Initiative (SCE) [2003-2005]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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