Welcome to the master of Nanoscale Engineering of lyon Retour à l'université de Lyon

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Tissue and Cell Engineering

Tissue and Cell Engineering (UE S3-12)

This course explores life on the nanometer scale. The two aspects of nanotechnology in life sciences are discussed:
  • fundamental research ­– probing the properties of cells on increasingly smaller length scales, cellular biomechanics
  • biomedical applications – novel nanostructured biomaterials, fine-tuned to modulate the cellular response

Outline of the course

  • Cellular structure and function
    • The cellular architecture
      membrane, cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix, adhesion proteins (cell/cell and cell/substrate)
    • Principal mechanics of the cell
      division (mitosis), movement (immune response, development, regeneration), cohesion and preservation of tissue
    • The cell as an integrated multi-sensor
      membrane receptors for chemical signals (endocytosis, exocytosis, phagocytosis), mechanical stimuli (blood flow, compression, cell/cell interaction), topological stimuli and the extracellular network (proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation)

  • Bio-, micro-, and nanotechnolgy to study the mechanical properties of cells
    • Stress and deformation, cellular rheology
      extensional rheometry, optical and magnetic tweezers, Brownian motion, aspiration into mircopipettes
    • Measuring cellular adhesion
      ablation experiments, milli- and microfluidic flow chambers, atomic force microscopy (AFM)
    • Hydrodynamic properties and capillary forces in cellular aggregates
      determination of cellular contractility, deformable substrates, utilization of physical forces (hydrodynamic, magnetic, ...) to counteract motion, contractile drugs, visulaization of mechanotransducer-complexes by fluorescence microscopy

  • Supports and 2D/3D matrices for tissue engineering
    • Bulk biomaterials and artificial tissue
    • Nanostructured materials, adhesive templates, and microfluidic devices
    • Intelligent scaffolds
    • Application examples and case studies

Evaluation

  • graded oral presentation

Prior knowledge

Biomolecules, Cells, and Biomimetic Systems (for non-biologists)

course volume


  • lectures/tutorials:  20 hours
  • ECTS: 2