Publications by authors named "Vetralla M"

To reach inflamed tissues from the circulation, neutrophils must overcome physical constraints imposed by the tissue architecture, such as the endothelial barrier or the three-dimensional (3D) interstitial space. In these microenvironments, neutrophils are forced to migrate through spaces smaller than their own diameter. One of the main challenges for cell passage through narrow gaps is the deformation of the nucleus, the largest and stiffest organelle in cells.

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Autocrine and paracrine signalling are traditionally difficult to study due to the sub-micromolar concentrations involved. This has proven to be especially limiting in the study of embryonic stem cells that rely on such signalling for viability, self-renewal, and proliferation. Microfluidics allows to achieve local concentrations of ligands representative of the in vivo stem cell niche, gaining more precise control over the cell microenvironment, as well as to manipulate ligands availability with high temporal resolution and minimal amount of reagents.

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The reproduction of reliable in vitro models of human skeletal muscle is made harder by the intrinsic 3D structural complexity of this tissue. Here we coupled engineered hydrogel with 3D structural cues and specific mechanical properties to derive human 3D muscle constructs ("myobundles") at the scale of single fibers, by using primary myoblasts or myoblasts derived from embryonic stem cells. To this aim, cell culture was performed in confined, laminin-coated micrometric channels obtained inside a 3D hydrogel characterized by the optimal stiffness for skeletal muscle myogenesis.

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