Investigation of the physical format of silk for the promotion of neural stem cell differentiation in vitro

Recent advances in stem cell research have shown the use of silk cultures as an effective and timely method to grow and test stem cell cultures. Silk cultures have the propensity to incorporate bioactive ques,
either covalently linked to the protein, or physically adsorbed. With the use of silk material, this proposed project will investigate if the stem cells can be engineered to differentiate into cells of interest by a culture in silk containing bioactive cues. To explore this, we will first physically isolate the factors needed for neural induction within the silk support. Ultimately, this project will investigate if the physical format of silk can promote neural stem cell differentiation.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sunit Das

Student:

Partner:

Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Biotechnology; Other

University:

University of Toronto

Program: