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.

Stemness Influences the Regenerative Potential of Cells Exposed to Chemotherapy

Friday, 18 March 2016 at 11:00

Add to Calendar ▼2016-03-18 11:00:002016-03-18 12:00:00Europe/LondonStemness Influences the Regenerative Potential of Cells Exposed to ChemotherapySELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

In musculoskeletal tissues like bone, chemotherapy can impair progenitor cell differentiation and proliferation, resulting in decreased bone growth and mineralization throughout a patient’s lifetime. The current study examined the effects of chemotherapy on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) regenerative characteristics compared to non-stem cells. The proliferation of stem and non-stem cell types could be used as an in vitro measure of susceptibility to common chemotherapeutic drugs. Interestingly, MSCs showed no susceptibility to the highly prevalent drug methotrexate (MTX), retaining both sustained proliferation and multipotency capabilities after exposure. Investigation into the mechanism behind cell response to MTX involved overexpression and knockdown of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), the target of the drug. Overexpression and endogenous nucleoside + amino acid delivery rescued non-stem cell types from adverse effects, identifying DHFR as one resistance mechanism and potential means of protecting beneficial cells exposed to MTX. Furthermore, it was observed that undifferentiated MSCs were more resistant than differentiating and terminally differentiated cell types, suggesting that stemness could play a role in chemotherapeutic resistance as well.

Add to Calendar ▼2016-03-17 00:00:002016-03-18 00:00:00Europe/LondonTissue EngineeringSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

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