Custom bioreactors
Cells in the human body exist in a dynamic environment and are subject to a wide range of different mechanical stimuli arising from the surrounding extracellular matrix or from neighboring cells. Through a complex process named mechanotransduction, mechanical stimuli are detected, integrated and transduced into chemical signals, which affect a range of cellular responses. We develop bioreactor systems enabling the testing of cell responses to specific mechanical stimuli, either single or in combination in order to mimic realistic physiological and pathological conditions, e.g. [1-4]. The bioreactors are compatible with live-imaging analysis as well as with immunofluorescence and biochemical techniques.
[1] Bachmann B.J., Bernardi L., Loosli C., Marschewski J., Perrini M., Ehrbar M., Ermanni P. Poulikakos D., Ferrari A., Mazza E. (2016) A novel bioreactor system for the assessment of endothelialization on deformable surfaces. Sci. Rep. 6, 38861. DOI:10.1038/srep38861
[2] Bernardi L., Giampietro C., Marina V., Genta M., Mazza E., Ferrari A. (2018) Adaptive reorientation of endothelial collectives in response to strain. Integr. Biol., 10, 527-538. DOI: 10.1039/c8ib00092a
[3] Wahlsten A., Rütsche D., Nanni M., Giampietro C., Biedermann T., Reichmann E., & Mazza, E. (2021) Mechanical stimulation induces rapid fibroblast proliferation and accelerates the early maturation of human skin substitutes. Biomaterials 273, 120779. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120779
[4] Wu X., Moimas S., Hopf R., Giampietro C., Kourouklis A., Falk V., Mazza E. Ferrari A. (2021) A free-form patterning method enabling endothelialization under dynamic flow. Biomaterials, 273, 120816. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120816