PhD defence

Force sensing and transmission in human induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived pericytes

• O. Iendaltseva

Date

Tuesday 15 November 2022

Time

16:15 - 17:00 hour

Address

Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

Pericytes, the mural cells of blood microvessels, are important regu- lators of vascular morphogenesis and function that have been postulated to mechanically control microvascular diameter through as yet unknown mechanisms. Their disfunction has been implicated in several pathologies, including cerebral ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetic retinopathy.
To reveal mechanisms used by pericytes for mechanical interactions within microvessels we designed models bringing human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived pericytes in contact with various micro- patterned substrates representing the microvascular basement membrane organization. Our findings shed light on how pericytes can mechanically regulate microvascular morphogenesis and function, and open possibilities for testing therapeutic strategies.

Supervisor(s)

• Prof. T. Schmidt
• Prof. E.H.J. Danen

PhD dissertations

Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

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