Mandatory Module M4: Cell & Tissue Engineering

Note: Draft version

Coordination: Robert Langer & Lino Ferreira, Joaquim Cabral

1- Cell and Development Biology (Domingos Henrique) (4 h)

1.1 Cell interaction: Cell adhesion and communication.

1.2 Tissue dynamics and homeostasis. Epithelial tissue, Connective Tissue. Neurons and Muscle.

1.3 Morphogenesis: cellular, molecular and physical processes.

1.4 Regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. Transcriptional control.

1.5 Cell signaling. Molecular mechanisms of hormone action, secondary messengers and kinases.

1.6 Cancer. DNA mutation and cancer. Oncogenes. Cancer therapy based on molecular mechanisms of differentiation and proliferation.

1.7 Differentiation and development. Development and stem cell biology.

2 Animal cell culture (Joaquim Cabral, Cláudia Lobato da Silva) (4 h)

2.1 Animal cell in vitro culture. Primary cultures.

2.2 Cell line immortalization techniques. Establishment of specific lineages: hybridomas and insect culture.

2.3  Antibodies production.

2.4 Culture media for mammalian cells.

2.5 Cell growth kinetics.

2.6 Bioreactors for suspension and adherent cells. Project, operation, modeling and monitoring of bioreactors for animal cell culture.

3- Stem cells for tissue engineering (Joaquim Cabral, Lino Ferreira, Cláudia Lobato da Silva) (6 h)

3.1 Stem cells: Embryonic and adult stem cell. Human stem cells

3.2 Cell types: epithelial, hematopoeitic and neuronal cells.

3.3 Stem cell plasticity: diversification of hematopoietic cells in neuronal cells and hepatocytes.

3.4 Stem cell processing and bioengineering: Stem cell isolation and purification.

3.5 Large-scale ex-vivo expansion of stem cells. Bioreactor systems for stem cell culture.

3.6 Stem cell microbioreactors. Cell chips.

 4- Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (Robert Langer) (2h)

            4.1- Biomaterial properties

            4.2- Types of Biomaterials

            4.3- Novel materials

            4.4- High-throughput analysis

            4.5- Examples of Engineered Tissues

 5- Biomaterials and delivery of growth factors and other molecules  (Robert Langer) (2h)

 6- Patents (Robert Langer) (2h)

 7- Tailoring Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering (Lino Ferreira) (2h)

            7.1- Subcellular length scale (< 10 mm)

            7.2- Cellular scale (10-100 mm)

            7.3- Supracellular scale (100 mm- 1 cm)

8- Biomedical applications (Seminars) (6 h)

8.1 Molecular therapy. Recombinant human proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Antibodies for therapeutic applications. Gene therapy and vaccines.

8.2 Cell therapy. Stem cell applications: bone marrow transplants, adoptive immunotherapy, blood cell production, therapeutic cloning.