ISBETICTAS Center for Systems Biologyfor Engineered Tissues

Nanoscale Science

Nano-BioInterface

SustainableEnergy

RenewableMaterials

SustainableWater

Cognition andCommunication

NationalSecurity

EmergingTechnologies

ICTAS Research Thrust Areas

INSTITUTE FOR CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLIED SCIENCE • VIRGINIA TECH

The need for researchIn vitro tissue mimics are currently designed by biomedical engineers and scientists through a combination of available knowledge on cellular behavior, tissue organization, and experimental capabilities. So far, predictive models have not played a major role in tissue engineering. More specifically, current approaches to tissue engineering have not yet effectively tapped into the information about cellular systems that is rapidly accumulating with the advent of systems biology. On the other hand, systems biology approaches have so far primarily been used to study model organisms and human diseases such as cancer. They have not been utilized to tackle the challenging question of how different cell types could be organized into complex engineered tissues. Adding the tools of systems biology to the repertoire of biomedical engineers and scientists can revolutionize the development of in vitro tissue mimics and accelerate their translation into applications for human health.

Faculty members at Virginia Tech have pioneered several enabling technologies that can harness this synergy. These technologies include assembly of layered tissue architectures, comprehensive and sensitive molecular profiling technologies, molecular and cellular imaging at the nanoscale, translational medicine based on animal models, and computational mining and modeling of massive systems biology datasets.

ISBET Director Padma Rajagopalan with students

VisionThe ICTAS Center for Systems Biology for Engineered Tissues (ISBET) will define a new synthesis and synergy between tissue engineering and systems biology. Seamlessly intertwined computational and experimental models will drive the next generation of advances in tissue engineering and in systems biology. Systems biology approaches will underlie predictive computational models of engineered tissues and drive novel experimental analysis of engineered tissues, while the demands of tissue engineering will inspire new methodologies and analysis frameworks in systems biology.

MissionISBET will promote world-class research and education at the interface between systems biology and tissue engineering; train a new generation of scientists with skills spanning tissue engineering, computational biology, ‘omics, and imaging; and enable students and post-doctoral fellows to conduct groundbreaking research in these fields.

Padmavathy RajagopalanDirectorpadmar@vt.edu

T. M. MuraliCo-director murali@cs.vt.edu

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equity and Inclusion.

Key Personnel

Accomplishments

• Three-dimensional liver mimics• Attomole-level measurements of proteins and metabolites• Nanoscale computer tomography• Live cell imaging of individual cells• Algorithms to compute and compare cellular response networks

A process-level linkage network involving nuclear receptors and the PPAR signaling, bile acid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism pathways, which captures the tight coupling between lipid homeostasis and bile acid synthesis in the liver.

Richard Helm, BiochemistryExpertise: Proteomics and metabolomics

Amrinder Nain, Mechanical EngineeringExpertise: Cellular dynamics and tissue engineering

Jean Peccoud, Virginia Bioinformatics InstituteExpertise: Synthetic biology, systems biology

M. Renee Prater, Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic MedicineExpertise: Developmental biology

Naren Ramakrishnan, Computer ScienceExpertise: Data analytics

Shay Soker, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative MedicineExpertise: Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Elankumaran Subbiah, Biomedical Sciences and PathobiologyExpertise: Translational medicine, animal models, and nanomedicine

Ge Wang, Virginia Tech - Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and SciencesExpertise: X-ray and optical tomography

Affiliated Faculty