Recent advances in stem cell biology hold great potential in regenerative medicine. To realize the therapeutic promise of stem cells, approach to realize high-quality and high-precision culture system is essential. The investigator proposes an innovative approach of optical control of stem cell behaviors through blue light illumination. If successful the approach will be expanded to other stem cell applications by controlling multiple signaling pathways.
Current stem cell culture systems include different growth factors, but their uneven distribution in the media (lack of spatial control), and gradually decreased activity due to temporal-instability, often cause significant problems in a large-scale stem cell biomanufacturing. To address this problem, the investigator proposes photo-inducible modulation of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling in human pluripotent stem cells and muscle stem cells, using an innovative optically controlled fibrobast growth factor receptor (OptoFGFR) system allowing precise control of FGF signaling. The proposed investigation will accelerate the in vitro and in vivo spatio-temporal modulation of stem cells, and will be the first example of the 'opto-signaling' application in stem cell biology with potential translational characteristics. More importantly, the OptoFGFR system will be expanded to other signaling pathways such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF, and nerve growth factor (NGF), and if successful the approach could be useful for multiple human diseases.
