Abstract

Synthetic Substrates for Cellular Control

Mark Bradley, Professor of Therapeutic Innovation, Precision Healthcare University Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London

The basis of my talk is polymer microarray technology which has been developed in the Bradley group for over 20 years.  In my talk I will introduce polymer microarray technology and describe how this approach has been used in a large number of stem cell based applications – providing cells for a variety of screening applications -  notably:

(i). The use of polymer microarray technology to discover a novel thermo-responsive chemically-defined hydrogel for long term culture of human embryonic stem cells and primary human mesenchymal adipose derived stem cells.

(ii). Polymer discovery that were able to support highly functional hESC-derived hepatocyte like cells (as active as primary human hepatoctyes) (with David Hay).

(iii). The development of polymers that bind cancer stem cells and stop their differentiation) (with Tetsuya Tega) (Stem Cells, 2016).