Coupling gene targeted reporters with fully automated compound library screening to mature hPSC-cardiomyocytes
Professor Chris Denning is investigating how to make stem cells a tool to help solve a variety of problems, from testing drugs safety to repairing damaged organs. In the lab, we can turn stem cells into heart cells, but these cells do not mature properly and are similar to a baby’s cells, rather than an adult. Labs around the world are trying to mature these heart cells so they behave more like adult heart cells. This has had some success but is a slow process because they can only test up to ten molecules that might mature the cells at one time. In this project, Professor Denning is scaling up this search. Over the past five years, he has invested in a set of technologies found nowhere else in the world, including stem cell robots testing 80,000 molecules at a time. He will now use this approach to work out how to mature stem cells into adult heart cells. He will first measure structure, electrical activity, force and energy of stem cell-derived heart cells. Secondly he will use the robots to test the effect of 80,000 molecules on those cells to find the best ways to mature stem cell-derived heart cells. This research will identify new molecules or combinations that could be key factors in making the heart cells that come from stem cells into a better lab tool.
Project details
| Grant amount | £1,136,510 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Chairs & Programme Grants |
| Application type | Special Project |
| Start Date | 11 January 2016 |
| Duration | 4 years |
| Reference | SP/15/9/31605 |
| Status | In Progress |
