"Packing fibres on curved surfaces: towards a model for 3D tissue growth in bone" - May 19, 2025, Monday, 3:30 pm, Torre Norte, amphitheatre EA4

Date: May 19, 2025, Monday
Time: 3:30 pm
Place: Torre Norte, amphitheatre EA4 (Floor 1)

• Speaker: John Dunlop (Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials, University of Salzburg)

• Title: "Packing fibres on curved surfaces: towards a model for 3D tissue growth in bone"
_{(Seminar delivered in English Language)}

• Abstract:

Biological materials display an enormous range of material properties ranging from soft flexible connective tissues to hard mineralised materials such as bone and shell. The diversity in (structural) properties is attained through the clever arrangement of a relatively small range of building blocks, being fibres (collagen, cellulose or chitin), matrices and minerals. Although much is known about the link between structure and function, relatively little is known about how these materials grow and are organised over length scales much larger than that of a single cell. Many biological materials grow on or at an interface, the shape of which can also determine the orientation and arrangement of the growing elements, cells and extra cellular matrix. The interface itself will also change shape due to growth resulting in a complex coupling between changing geometry and the patterning of cells. This Seminar will present theoretical and experimental explorations into the three-dimensional (3D) pattern formation of growing fibrous materials and give insights into how surface curvature can influence the alignment of cells and extracellular matrix. The focus will be on 3D cell cultures of pre-osteoblast cell lines and simulations of tissue patterning on surfaces of different curvature. It is hoped that the knowledge gained will assist in the design of new substrates for tissue regeneration and allow us to use surface geometry as a tool to direct cells to produce tissues with tailored properties.

• Short Biographic Note:

John Dunlop studied at the University of Western Australia and completed Bachelor degrees in Materials and Engineering and Chemistry before going on to do a PhD in Metal Physics in Grenoble, France. He then moved to the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, where he started a research group exploring the interactions between geometry and biological processes. In 2017, he moved to Salzburg and became Professor of Biological Physics in the Department of Chemistry and Physics of Materials.

This is another Seminar of the "Seminars@DEM" cycle.
Next Seminar, May 21, 2025, Wednesday, 3:00 pm.