Andrew Zupancic
Pronouns: He/Him
Research Mentor(s): Todd Herron
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Internal Medicine and Cardiology / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Todd Herron, Andrew Zupancic
Session: Session 2: 10:00 am – 10:50 am
Poster: 90
Abstract
AI is quickly rising to prominence within the cultural, business, and engineering spheres, but perhaps the most impressive area of possibility lies within cell culturing and purification. Specifically, an AI was recently completed with the purpose of purifying human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. The process of purification is often the bottleneck of experiments and different drug trials. John Hopkins for instance, needs 1 million cells for a single test and a total of 24 million for a full experiment. Using the AI, unwanted cells are observed, recorded, and subsequently destroyed via the precise Kataoka laser machine. This method reduces months of work to just 2 hours. Not only does it improve upon the initial time requirement, but the industry standard involves starving the unwanted cells via the zero glucose and abundant lactate composition of the purification media. This method is proven to damage the cardiomyocytes, leaving them with disease-indicating genes and arrhythmias. The AI + laser purification, however, hopes to leave the cells with no unnecessary damage. This groundbreaking technology, although promising based on initial results, requires further testing to gauge its effectiveness, safety, and viability. Using the 19-9-11 CM control hiPSC line, a comparison can be drawn between the old purification method versus new AI purification. This cell line will be tested for yield, viability, and thawing effectiveness. The AI gives the cell percentage of wanted cells in conjunction with a cell count, can effectively display the yield of the purification. Additionally, the laser-purified cells will be tested via PCR to ascertain whether or not they possess the Pro-BNP or NPPA genes, which are indicators of cardiomyocyte stress or damage. If proven effective, this method could revolutionize the cell culturing pipeline and increase the viable cells for experimentation. Additionally, these laser-processed cells will be used to form 3D human Cardiac tissues.
