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Full-Text Articles in Engineering
A Drosophila Model To Examine Collective Migration During Retinogenesis, Caroline Pena, Stephanie Zhang, Mildred Kamara, Tadmiri Venkatesh, Maribel Vazquez
A Drosophila Model To Examine Collective Migration During Retinogenesis, Caroline Pena, Stephanie Zhang, Mildred Kamara, Tadmiri Venkatesh, Maribel Vazquez
Publications and Research
Retinal dysfunction is often caused by aberrant neural cell migration during development. In this study, we observed the migration of neural cells of the Drosophila melanogaster after marking cells of the 3rd instar larvae with the GAL4-UAS expression system when exposed to a concentration gradient of FGF-8 through the use of a microfluidic device. The glial and neuronal cell ratio in the developing brain was determined through immunofluorescent staining and observation. In future studies, a microfluidic device that mimics the developing Drosophila brain and retina will be designed in order to better understand the biological factors that affect the migration …
Microfluidic Generated Egf-Gradients Induce Chemokinesis Of Transplantable Retinal Progenitor Cells Via The Jak/Stat And Pi3kinase Signaling Pathways., Uchenna J. Unachukwu, Moira Sauane, Maribel Vazquez, Stephen Redenti
Microfluidic Generated Egf-Gradients Induce Chemokinesis Of Transplantable Retinal Progenitor Cells Via The Jak/Stat And Pi3kinase Signaling Pathways., Uchenna J. Unachukwu, Moira Sauane, Maribel Vazquez, Stephen Redenti
Publications and Research
A growing number of studies are evaluating retinal progenitor cell (RPC) transplantation as an approach to repair retinal degeneration and restore visual function. To advance cell-replacement strategies for a practical retinal therapy, it is important to define the molecular and biochemical mechanisms guiding RPC motility. We have analyzed RPC expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and evaluated whether exposure to epidermal growth factor (EGF) can coordinate motogenic activity in vitro. Using Boyden chamber analysis as an initial high-throughput screen, we determined that RPC motility was optimally stimulated by EGF concentrations in the range of 20-400 ng/ml, with decreased …
A Microfluidic Device To Establish Concentration Gradients Using Reagent Density Differences, Qingjun Kong, Richard A. Able, Jr., Veronica Dudu, Maribel Vazquez
A Microfluidic Device To Establish Concentration Gradients Using Reagent Density Differences, Qingjun Kong, Richard A. Able, Jr., Veronica Dudu, Maribel Vazquez
Publications and Research
Microfabrication has become widely utilized to generate controlled microenvironments that establish chemical concentration gradients for a variety of engineering and life science applications. To establish microfluidic flow, the majority of existing devices rely upon additional facilities, equipment, and excessive reagent supplies, which together limit device portability as well as constrain device usage to individuals trained in technological disciplines. The current work presents our laboratory-developed bridged microLane system, which is a stand-alone device that runs via conventional pipette loading and can operate for several days without need of external machinery or additional reagent volumes. The bridged microLane is a two-layer polydimethylsiloxane …