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BE Seminar: “Programming multicellular interactions and organization using synthetic cell adhesion molecules” (Adam Stevens, UCSF)

February 16, 2023 at 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are ubiquitous in multicellular organisms and specify precise cellular interactions in processes as diverse as tissue development and immune cell trafficking. We have generated an array of synthetic CAMs by combining orthogonal extracellular interactions with native intracellular domains. Diverse homotypic or heterotypic extracellular binding domains specify the connectivity between cells, while the intracellular domain identity dictates interface morphology and mechanics. This approach highlights CAM modularity and enables rationally programmed assembly and remodeling of multicellular architectures. Overall, these tools offer new customizable capabilities for cell and tissue engineering and for systematically studying multicellular organization.

Adam Stevens, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Scholar, UCSF

I completed an undergraduate degree in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, where I conducted research in the laboratory of Professor Marc Greenberg and investigated how DNA lesions formed through oxidative damage inhibit base excision repair enzymes. I next attended graduate school at Princeton University in the Department of Chemistry under the guidance of Professor Tom Muir, where my research involved characterizing and engineering a class of fractured proteins called naturally split inteins. I then joined the laboratory of Professor Wendell Lim at the University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology for postdoctoral research, where I developed a molecular toolkit of engineered cell adhesion molecules that enables programmable cell-cell adhesion.  I am now proposing a research program that applies approaches from synthetic biology to elucidate molecular principles of cellular mechanics and enable the dissection and control of adhesion in multicellular systems.

Details

Date:
February 16, 2023
Time:
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Event Categories:
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Event Tags:

Organizer

Bioengineering
Phone
215-898-8501
Email
be@seas.upenn.edu
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Venue

Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology
3205 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104 United States
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