Now that we have gotten all of the laboratory training out of the way, I was finally able to start more hands-on learning and practicing techniques that will be fundamental to my project throughout the summer. So far, I have learned how to thaw and culture my own endothelial cells (ECs) in wells using the biosafety cabinet (BSC). As the lab has a biosafety hazard level 2, which is moderately dangerous because of the biomaterials we work with, we must wear lab coats and keep everything as sterile as possible with a 70% ethanol solution. After changing the media the following day, we observed that 50-60% cells had become confluent, and would probably be ready for the actual project the next day.
On Wednesday, my mentor, Emily, coached me through the protocols for embedding cells in collagen I gel, and then injecting the gel into an “organ-on-a-chip,” or microfluidic device. To clarify, it is a small plastic chip with several different channels that allows for the interaction of cells in an environment that more closely resembles that of human tissue rather than animal testing. The main obstacle I had was micro-pipetting, or injecting significantly small amounts of solution and media into each corresponding channel (no more than 100 microliters, or 0.0001 liters!). Nonetheless, I have an excellent mentor that guided me the whole way through, and our samples seem to be doing well. These skills will be more useful later on in the summer when I work more independently.
I know it may sound like a bunch of jargon, but to clarify my project for the summer, I will be focusing mainly on these microfluidic devices and how they can be used to engineer microvessels. For the most part, I am expected to gather a deep understanding of how to design and produce my own microfluidic devices through a process called lithography, which I will then use to experiment with endothelial cells for vasculogenesis. I plan to go more in-depth during journal club and my chalk talk, as I am still figuring out the small details, but my end goal is to have my own device and find an efficient way to produce microvessels (and hopefully, continue my work beyond BSURF with the lab in the fall)!
