Development of optogenetic controllable MSC cell lines for the precise regulation of immunomodulatory factors

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a key player in the field of regenerative medicine due to their numerous regenerative properties. For example, their ability to selectively home into injury/inflammation areas and their immunomodulatory effects allows the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. For this reason, we are planning to establish new, meaningful biological assay systems in this project that will allow to describe the underlying mechanisms that occur in stem cell therapies. Therefore, we will engineer highly standardized MSC cell lines using optogenetic manipulation, in which specific signaling pathways can be switched on and off by light. After characterization and validation under physiologic conditions, an automation of the models using the Oli-Up cell culture systems from LifeTaq-Analytics GmbH is planned. The project is carried out in cooperation with BOKU Vienna and LifeTaq-Analytics GmbH and funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency under the BRIDGE programme.