New technology now provides investigators the ability to reliably attach myocytes, mechanically stretch them, make direct force measurements and control cell length intelligently. This webinar reviews best-practices and techniques for attaching, stretching, and studying isolated cells.
During this exclusive webinar sponsored by IonOptix, presenters Ben Prosser and Michiel Helmes discuss methodology, best-practices, and show attendees how to attach isolated myocytes to ensure accurate force measurements. In addition, Ben Prosser reviews an application of myocyte stretching and loading. Michiel Helmes discusses the importance of both mechanical loading and measuring force, and how controlling myocyte length to regulate force development enables generation of work loops and a host of mechanical studies.
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Presenters
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology, Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Research Interests:
Mechanobiology, heart muscle, live cell and super-resolution imaging, calcium signaling, the cytoskeleton.
Education:
B.S. Wake Forest University; Honors in Biomechanics
Ph.D. University of Maryland, School of Medicine; Molecular Medicine
Post-doc - Lab of W.J. Lederer - UMD SOM
Co-CEO
IonOptix
Dr. Michiel Helmes has been able to successfully combine academia with an industrial career. After his PhD studying titin mechanics in cardiac muscle with Dr. Granzier, he has kept various academic appointments, at Boston University, the University of Oxford, and now the VU University Medical center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is part owner and involved in system development at Ionoptix LLC. Being so fully immersed in working with isolated cardiac myocytes, he reached the conclusion that the field needed a more standardized instrument, and in 2015 he set up Cytocypher, that developed the high throughput system for calcium/contractility measurements that is the subject of this webinar.
Production Partner
IonOptix
IonOptix is committed to supporting preclinical researchers around the world on their quest to better understand cellular and tissue mechanics, cardiovascular function and related disease. We specialize in precision life science instrumentation optimized for studying isolated cardiomyocytes, muscle tissue, blood vessels and tissue culture.
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