M-Lab focuses how different mechanical aspects of a tissue control/influence cellular behaviour and fate. The knowledge gained will help in designing efficient scaffolds for tissue engineering, cell delivery systems for stem cell based treatments and might indicate new treatment target to control diseases related to cellular migration including cancer. It will also help us to understand the role of mechanics in pattern formation, development and pathological conditions
Research Areas
In the field of mechanobiology, it has been very well established that mechanical properties of cellular micro-environment provides a significant contribution towards cellular behaviour. One of the major player in mechanobiology is material’s stiffness. It has been proved that, when cells are seeded on a hard substrate, they spread more and become flat as compared to soft material where they almost remain round. However, this property has been studied with sparsely seeded cells, on contrary to in-vivo where cells are not distantly apart but in close…
Application of stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering is one of the most trending prospects. However, getting higher number of functional stem cells to begin with is a bottleneck. The general procedure of stem cell isolation involves extraction from tissues such as bone marrow, dental pulp, adipose tissue, umbilical cord, etc. However, the proportion of stem cells is very low in any given tissue, thus their in-vitro expansion is essential. When cultured extensively in-vitro, stem cells lose their potency and…
The cells in our body are of many different shapes. These shapes are important for the structure and function of tissue. To study the effect of cells shape on the cellular functions (for example differentiation and migration) in lab, cells are grown on proteins, printed in different shapes on flat surface (plastic or gel). The method used for printing protein on the surface using stamps is called microcontact printing. Photolithography, a technique that employs light as a chisel to etch, is usually used to fabricate the mould for these stamps.…
Following research was done in collaboration with Prof. Dulal Panda, BSBE IITB.
Methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCD), an established pharmacological adjuvant enhances the solubility and bioavailability of several small molecules, drugs and nano-particles. It also reduces actin filaments which is one of the cellular cytoskeletal elements. This cytoskeletal filament controls multiple cellular processes such as cell migration, division,…
Skin cells gets replenished every 24 hr to keep skin healthy. However, with skin injuries such as wounds, diabetic ulcers, and severe burns, this replacement get severely affected. To overcome this issue, various companies have generated tissue grafts which originate from cadavers or skin patches from different parts of host body. Both processes are expensive and tedious. In this research, we have shown that skin stem cells (keratinocytes) can be isolated and propagated on substrates with optimum stiffness. The given substrate stiffness not only maintains the basic…
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