[Soft-matter] Soft Matter & Complex Systems Seminar on 26 Apr 2024

[Maciej Lisicki]

Dear Soft Matter & Complex Systems Colleagues and Friends,

On Friday 26 April 2024 at 9:30 AM at the UW Faculty of Physics (Pasteura 5, Warsaw; room 1.40) we are hosting a seminar during which 

Antoni Wrzos (FUW)

will give a talk
Microscale granular experiments on vascular network formation with computer modeling

Abstract

The fundamental challenge of tissue engineering is to create a functional vascular network that provides oxygen and nutrients to cells. Effectively constructing such networks requires understanding the processes involved in vascular network formation and identifying the factors influencing its growth. From an experimental perspective, we focus on well-controlled systems consisting of individual plastic microbeads coated with endothelial cells or bead matrices, ie. groups of individual microbeads with adjustable spacing between them. The microbeads are placed in hydrogel, mimicking an extracellular matrix, supplemented with nutrients, fibroblasts, and vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) at controlled concentrations.

Numerical tools have been developed for image segmentation of microscopic images with the ability to characterize networks through numerous parameters. One notable observation is that the onset time, marked by the initial growth of capillaries from a microbead, gets shorter with higher concentrations of VEGF. Additionally, higher concentrations of VEGF result in more branched networks, although they do not significantly affect the speed of growth of individual sprouts. The mean bifurcation angle shows weak dependence on VEGF concentration, typically varying between 60 and 75 degrees. This suggests that the sprout tips tend to follow local VEGF gradients. At high VEGF concentrations, we observe exponential distributions of segment lengths, indicating stochastic branching. To simulate growth of capillary networks in vasculogenesis we began to work on a cellular Potts model, consisting off two key factors governing network formation: elastic interactions due to hydrogel deformation by endothelial cells and chemotaxis associated with the diffusion and reaction of VEGF proteins with endothelial cells.


We warmly welcome everyone to attend the talk and the Soft Matter Coffee Break after the seminar, held in room 2.63 (2nd floor).

Maria Ekiel-Jeżewska
Maciej Lisicki
Piotr Szymczak
Panagiotis Theodorakis
Marek Trippenbach
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