Engineering the Cell-Matrix Interface to Probe Stem Cell Function
The native extracellular microenvironment dynamically remodels as cells synthesize, assemble, and remodel their surroundings during tissue development, injury, and repair. In my research group, we use biomaterials and engineered systems to both probe mechanisms of cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions (e.g., mechanobiology) and to guide cell function towards therapeutic behaviors (e.g., tissue repair/regeneration). In this talk, I will share our recent efforts to visualize and identify the composition of secreted ECM to better understand cellular responses to engineered hydrogel cues (e.g., polymer modification and mechanics) and within complex cellular structures. In addition, we have used these engineered systems to reproduce dynamic cell-matrix interactions and to manipulate secreted ECM components as means to better understand the evolution of matrix in organ repair (using ex vivo lung tissue). Our evolving understanding of matrix dynamics and turnover will not only open up new avenues for understanding biological mechanisms but will also allow us to design better materials systems for therapeutic interventions.
Bio: Claudia Loebel, M.D., is an assistant professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania a core faculty of the Center for Precision Engineering for Health (CPE4H). She obtained her M.D. (2011) at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, Ph.D. (2016) at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Professor Jason Burdick at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research involves the development of metabolic labelling approached and biomaterial platforms to characterize and uncover the role of nascent matrix microenvironments on cell and tissue function. The applications of this research range from guiding lung alveolar stem/progenitor cell fate through material cues to developing engineered platforms for tissue repair and therapeutic treatment. Claudia Loebel is currently serving as an Associate Editor of the Wiley Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A (JBMRA). She was awarded the 2023 David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for her work on cell-matrix interactions, the R35 MIRA Award through NIH NIGMS, the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) through NHLBI at NIH and the Innovator Award through the American Lung Association to probe mechanisms of nascent matrix and alveolar epithelial cell dysfunction.