Conveners
Signalling, tissues & modelling
- Adriana Dawes (Ohio State University)
Variation of calcium concentration in hepatocytes (liver cells) is known to modulate diverse cellular functions, including bile secretion, glucose and energy metabolism and vesicular trafficking. A major question in the study of calcium signalling in hepatocytes is how these distinct cellular processes are controlled and organised via coordinated spatial and temporal calcium...
Calcium signalling is a ubiquitous mechanism that many cell types use to control a plethora of biological processes. In particular, calcium plays a large role in fertility both for egg and sperm cells. In this presentation, we will focus on the acrosome reaction, which is a calcium-modulated vesicle release that must occur for sperm to successfully fertilize the egg. We will discuss the...
Bursting is a type of electrical activity seen in many neurons and endocrine cells where episodes of action potential firing are interspersed by silent phases. Pancreatic $\beta$-cells show so-called square-wave bursting when stimulated by glucose, which causes ${\text Ca^{2+}}$ oscillations and pulsatile insulin secretion. $\beta$-cells are electrically coupled within pancreatic islets, and...
The inter-follicular epidermis (IFE) forms the outer-most layer of the skin. Many individual components fundamental to healthy IFE structure are known: proliferation occurs only in a basal layer; above this layer cells differentiate into keratinocytes forming further distinct layers before they are shed from the surface. However, a definitive understanding of how the balance between...
Cells are often grown within collagen gels in vitro for applications in tissue engineering. The behaviour of these cells is regulated by their mechanical environment; however, the forces exerted by cells in turn affect the mechanical behaviour of the gel. We aim to better understand the interactions between the cells and the gel using mathematical modelling.
We have developed a...
The differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into chondrocytes (native cartilage cells), or chondrogenesis, is a key step in the tissue engineering of articular cartilage. Chondrogenesis is regulated by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), a short-lived cytokine whose effect is prolonged by storage in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Tissue engineering applications require the...