Biophysical stimulation of stem cells on biomaterials and in biomicrofluidic device: in vitro and in silico studies

Speaker: Bikramjit Basu (Materials Research Centre & Center for BioSystems Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India) http://www.mrc.iisc.ac.in/bikramjit-basu/

In the field of biomaterials science, the phenomenological interaction of a biological cell with a synthetic material is influenced by several factors, e.g. elastic stiffness, surface topography and wettability. In this context, the results of a strikingly different approach, involving intermittent delivery of electric stimulation to manipulate cell functionality on electroconductive biomaterials will be discussed. I will present both the experimental results and theoretical foundation of our ongoing research in this direction. While establishing theoretical foundation to rationalize our experimental results, I will present results of the analytical solutions of Laplace equation with appropriate boundary conditions for the biological cell system, as well as MD simulation based studies for protein adsorption on biomaterial substrate and protein-membrane receptor interactions, both under the influence of electric field. This presentation, encompassing experimental results and theoretical analysis, is expected to provide guidelines to develop next generation biomaterials and biomedical devices for regenerative medicine.