Regenerative Medicine

Recommended Prerequisites

NA

Teaching Methods

Theoretical classes: oral presentation of the subjects using audiovisual resources. The theoretical concepts will be accompanied and illustrated with examples, practical applications and case studies. Some theoretical classes will be administered by specialists. Laboratory classes: supervision of laboratory activities by teachers and postgraduate students. Students will be organized in groups.

Learning Outcomes

During this lective module the students will acquire skills about cellular- and non-cellular based therapies for the treatment of diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases. The students will acquire skills in the use of stem cells for the creation of disease models. These disease models are very important in medicine for the study of diseases and to identify new therapetic targets.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Theoretical classes will cover the following topics. Cell and tissue culture (2 h): principles of cell and tissue culture; media for cell cultivation; cell growth and metabolism; cell characterization; cryopreservation; contaminants; scale-up; cell-based secretome: exosomes. Stem cells and derivatives for regenerative medicine (6 h): stem-cell properties; multipotent stem cells; stem cell niches and microenvironmental cues; pluripotent stem cells: embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells; cell reprogramming; cell modulation by CRISPR; stem cell processing: cell isolation, purification, expansion and controlled differentiation; microtechnologies and biomaterials for stem cell bioengineering. Stem cells for disease modeling (6 h): lab-on-a-chip, high-throughput screening, high content analyses. Cell-based therapies (6 h). Laboratory classes (10 h). cell culture; gene expression analyses; immunocytochemistry; flow cytometry analyses

Head Lecturer(s)

Lino da Silva Ferreira

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 10.0%
Report of a seminar or field trip: 30.0%
Exam: 60.0%

Bibliography

Palsson, B.Ø. and Bhatia, S.N., Tissue Engineering, Pearson Prentice Hall Bioengineering, 2004

Vunjak-Novakovic, G. and Freshney, R., Culture of Cells for Tissue Engineering, Wiley, 2006

Atala, A., Lanza, R., et al, Principles of Regenerative Medicine, Academic Press, 2007

Schaffer, D., Bronzino J.D., Peterson, D.R., Stem Cell Engineering, Principles and Practices, CRC Press, 2013