Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 20 of 139 for “"Biological Engineering Division."”.
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Transcriptional profiling of rat primary hepatocytes cultured in a 3D microfabricated liver reactor
… (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division, 2003.
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Development and analysis of an in vitro model of inflammatory cytokine-mediated idiosyncratic drug hepatotoxicity
Idiosyncratic drug reactions are a subset of adverse reactions frequently targeting the liver, which become obvious only in large sample populations. Drug-induced hepatotoxicity, occurring in a very small fraction of patients, poses a major challenge to pharmaceutical companies due to its unknown …
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Quantitative analysis of non-viral gene therapy in primary liver culture systems
Gene therapy has the potential to cure thousands of diseases caused by genetic abnormalities, provide novel combination therapies for cancers and viral infections, and offer a new and effective platform for next generation vaccines. However, after more than three decades of research and development …
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An apparatus for high throughput muscle cell experimentation
The cardiac ventricular muscle cell (myocyte) is a key experimental system for exploring the mechanical properties of the diseased and healthy heart. The myocyte experimental model provides a higher level of physiological relevance than molecular or myofibril studies while avoiding problems …
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Characterization of self-assembling peptide nanofibers of KLD12 and RID 12
… with usage in numerous areas, from tissue engineering to membrane protein biology. This work is to further study the characteristics of the peptides KLD12 and RID12 and to generate new ways to control the properties of them. Peptide structures in solution were studied with circular …
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Control of flow and oxygen in a 3-D perfused micro-environment fosters balanced survival of hepatocyte-non-parenchymal cell co-cultures
Creating a physiologically relevant in vitro liver model requires reproducing the cellular heterogeneity of in vivo liver in a functional state. However differentiated sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs), marked by SE-1 expression are difficult to maintain in culture while stellate cells easily …
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Probing nanomechanics of aggrecan and the aggrecan-rich pericellular matrix of chondrocytes in cartilage
The mechanical properties of articular cartilage are associated with the extracellular matrix network of type II collagen and the proteoglycan, aggrecan, which in combination provide the tensile, shear, and compressive stiffness of the tissue. While the collagen network mainly provides resistance …
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Self-renewal pattern-associated genes and their role in adult stem cell functions
Molecular markers for adult stem cells (ASCs) are highly demanded for research and clinical applications. The development of specific molecular markers for ASCs has been difficult mainly due to the technical barriers in the identification and isolation of rare ASCs. Previously, reported …
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Force-mediated adhesion strengthening in endothelial cells at adherens junctions
Cells respond to the application of force with a variety of biochemical responses modulating their shape, structure, function, and proliferation. Two force-responsive links between the inside and outside of a cell are integrin proteins, which link a cell to the extracellular matrix (ECM), and …
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Progression of chondrocyte signaling responses to mechanical stimulation in 3-D gel culture
Mechanical stimulation of 3-D chondrocyte cultures increases extracellular matrix (ECM) production and mechanical stiffness in regenerating cartilage. The goal of this study was to examine the progression of chondrocyte signaling responses to mechanical stimulation in 3-D culture during tissue …
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Quantitative analysis and characterization of intracellular gene delivery mechanisms
A goal for gene delivery research is to design vectors capable of (a) delivering transgenes to target cells, (b) yielding efficient gene expression, and (c) minimizing any immune, inflammatory, or cytotoxic response. Current research has focused on developing such vehicles using end gene expression …
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Enzymatic and analytical tools for the characterization of chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate glycosaminoglycans
… of HSGAGs responsible for their different biological functions. As a continuation of ongoing research, a combination of chemical modification, peptide mapping, and site-directed mutagenesis was employed to explore the role of histidine in the activity of heparinase III. Of the thirteen …
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Measuring mechanical properties of the tectorial membrane with a microfabricated probe
Dynamic material properties of the isolated mouse tectorial membrane (TM) were quantified by applying sinusoidal shearing forces to the TM with a microfabricated probe (contact area 30 x 30 [micro]m²). Forces in the range 30-300 nN with frequency in the range 10-9000 Hz were applied tangentially to …
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Molecular substrate design for the selective adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of marrow connective tissue progenitors
A multi-faceted approach was applied to the molecular design of substrates for the selective adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of connective tissue progenitors (CTPs) from human bone marrow aspirates. The basic premise of the thesis is that integrin-specific adhesion peptides, when …
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The characterization of obesity and noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus in Swiss Webster mice associated with late-onset hepatocellular carcinoma
Despite increased awareness of the obesity epidemic and a higher incidence of the metabolic syndrome in humans, the incidence of obesity and its comorbidities-most notably, type II diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-continues to increase. Although numerous animal models are available …
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A novel high-throughput in-cell Western assay for the quantitative measurement of signaling dynamics in DNA damage signaling networks : cell decision processes in response to DNA double strand breaks
Following exposure to DNA damage, cells initiate a stress response involving multiple protein kinase signaling cascades. The DNA damage response results in one of several possible cell-fate decisions, or cellular responses: induction of cell-cycle arrest, initiation of DNA repair, activation of …
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Fluorescence laser tracking microrheology for quantitative studies of cytoskeletal mechanotransduction
To shed light on the cell's response to its mechanical environment, we examined cell rheology at the single cell level and quantified it with nanometer spatial and microsecond temporal resolutions over a five-decade frequency range (- 0.5 Hz to 50 kHz). To this end, we developed and optimized an …
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The detection of immortal DNA strand co-segregation as a method of adult stem cell identification
The study of stem cells is one of the most fascinating topics in biology. Adult stem cells (ASC), which play the prime role in the maintenance and restoration of tissues, are thought to hold great potential for the advancement of medicine. It has been postulated that adult stem cells are able to …
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Engineering the interface between cellular chassis and synthetic biological systems
The aim of my thesis is to help enable the engineering of biological systems that behave in a predictable manner. Well-established techniques exist to engineer systems that behave as expected. Here, I apply such techniques to two aspects of the engineering of biological systems. First, I address …
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Computational modeling of protein-biomolecule interactions with application to mechanotransduction and antibody maturation
Cell survival, growth, differentiation, migration, and communication all depend on the appropriate combination of specific interactions between proteins and biomolecules. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms influencing protein-biomolecule binding interactions is important both for …
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