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3D Bioprinting

January 2016. As macroscopic systems, cells exhibit biochemical properties that are heavily influenced by the surrounding extracellular matrix. A new project at the Goethe University Frankfurt aims at rewiring living cells by in-situ lateral organization of membrane receptors and thus exert control over signaling networks by light.

Wavelength-selective as well as two-photon photoactivatable supramolecular interaction pairs will be developed to direct receptor clustering with high spatiotemporal resolution. The one- and twophoton activation will facilitate a non-invasive protein organization in 2D and 3D. Combined with superresolution microscopy and single-molecule imaging, the multi-photon patterning will provide valuable insights into suprastructures of receptors and their impact on cell response. The approach will ultimately allow to control receptor clustering in a macroscopic 3D cell culture at system-level.

The new project is a collaboration between Ralph Wieneke, Mike Heilemann and Robert Tampé and will be funded with 900,000 EUR for three years by the Volkswagen-Foundation with the possibility of extension.Their successful research proposal belongs to only seven projects selected amongst a total of 98 proposals submitted to the initiative "Integration of molecular components into functional macroscopic systems" of the Volkswagen-Foundation. Mehr...
 

Contacts:
Ralph Wieneke, Institute of Biochemistry, wieneke@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Mike Heilemann, Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, heilemann@chemie.uni-frankfurt.de
Robert Tampé, Institute of Biochemistry, tampe@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany