Shopping Cart (0)
My Account

Shopping Cart
SELECTBIO Conferences Clinical Applications & Clinical Translation of Tissue Engineering

Eric Darling's Biography



Eric Darling, Associate Professor of Medical Science, Engineering, and Orthopaedics, Brown University

Eric M. Darling is an Associate Professor of Medical Science, Engineering, and Orthopaedics in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology, & Biotechnology at Brown University. He also currently serves as the Graduate Program Director for the Center for Biomedical Engineering. He received a B.S. in engineering from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. in bioengineering from Rice University, and post-doctoral training in orthopaedic research at Duke University. His group conducts research on cell mechanics, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. He is specifically interested in understanding heterogeneity in adult stem cell populations and developing approaches to identify tissue-specific cells for regenerative medicine and disease diagnostics.

Eric Darling Image

Novel, Cellular Biomarkers Indicating Tissue-specific, Regenerative Potential

Tuesday, 10 February 2015 at 08:30

Add to Calendar ▼2015-02-10 08:30:002015-02-10 09:30:00Europe/LondonNovel, Cellular Biomarkers Indicating Tissue-specific, Regenerative PotentialSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have garnered intense interest for their application in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies. Unfortunately, the heterogeneity inherent in these cell populations complicates their use. Traditional, surface marker-based approaches have had limited success purifying autologous MSCs at sufficient cell yields such that ex vivo expansion is not required. Recently, our group has shown that both single-cell mechanical properties and live-cell gene expression signals can be used to predict the differentiation potential of MSCs. These approaches target all cells in stem/stromal populations that are capable of producing lineage-specific metabolites, encompassing a broader swathe of cell types and differentiation states than traditional techniques. In mechanical property-based experiments, we have shown that less compliant MSCs are more likely to deposit large amounts of calcified matrix compared to more compliant MSCs following osteogenic induction. Conversely, more compliant MSCs showed a propensity to produce large amounts of intracellular lipids following adipogenic induction. In gene expression-based experiments, we have shown that MSCs can be sorted using a fluorescent marker that binds to early osteogenic mRNA molecules, resulting in cell populations that deposited larger amounts of calcified matrix deposition over unsorted controls. Cell yields were also significantly higher than standard, cell enrichment approaches. While osteogenesis has been the primary target of investigation, continuing work is applying these techniques to other cell types and tissues.


Add to Calendar ▼2015-02-09 00:00:002015-02-10 00:00:00Europe/LondonClinical Applications and Clinical Translation of Tissue EngineeringSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com