Unit for NanoEngineering and MicroPhysiological Systems (UNEMPS)

Authors

• J Gopalakrishnan
• N Fernando
• A Behensky
• M Bono
• V Nagarajan
• HY Shih

Abstract

The NIBIB Unit for NanoEngineering and MicroPhysiological Systems (UNEMPS) is part of the Section on Immunoengineering. The goal of UNEMPS research is to integrate biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering with basic mechanistic biology to understand and develop therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer. UNEMPS research focus areas include: 1) Developing organ-on-a-chip models of immune-related conditions, and 2) Evaluating the role of biological nanoparticles in autoimmune diseases and cancer. Current UNEMPS research focuses on thyroid immunity, specifically modelling the thyroid tissue microenvironment and evaluating the potential role of bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) in inducing thyroid autoimmunity. In this poster, two ongoing UNEMPS research projects will be presented. The first project is the development of a thyroid organoid-on-a-chip model incorporating thyroid follicular organoids with thyroid microvasculature to model healthy and diseased thyroid tissue. The second project is the evaluation of bacterial extracellular vesicle molecular mimicry in inducing immune responses against thyroid proteins. Additionally, data on the storage stability of gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial extracellular vesicles will be presented.

Scientific Focus Area: ACI/IRS

This page was last updated on Monday, September 25, 2023