2020

Project abstract:

New review article in Current Diabetes Reports by HTH reseachers summarizing the current progress and possibilities of using pancreas-on-a-chip (PoC) technology as a tool in clinical islet transplantation.

Two Hybrid Technology Hub projects: DUCT chip – An artificial bile duct on a chip recapitulating immune functions and Tankyrase inhibition as a therapeutic principle in idiopathic lung fibrosis have received innovation funding from the University of Oslo for early phase support. 

Hanne Scholz and her collaborators within the Oxford Consortium for Islet Transplantation have co-authored a new article in Cell Transplantation on the proteomic profiling of the mesenchymal stem cell secretome. 

Alexandre Corthay and his PhD-student Astri Frafjord have studied the body's immune response towards human lung cancer, and developed a new method to identify and quantify which types of immune cells are present inside tumors. Data from this research will serve as a basis for designing the cellular content for the coming "tumor-on-a-chip".

Hybrid Technology Hub PI Gareth Sullivan have co-authored a new paper on cardiac differentiation in Scientific Reports.

This month Kristine Dolva joined the Hybrid Technology Hub - Center for Organ on a Chip-technology. Kristine will work on the development of a "Heart-fibre-on-chip"-system to allow physiological media recirculation in the microfluidic system.

As a part of the CompSci doctral programme funded by HORIZON2020, Hanne Scholz and Dag Kristian Dysthe will lead a project on deep-learning based analysis and modelling of stem cell differentiation pathways. The project will hire one PhD-student, and is closely related to the ABINO Convergence enviroment.

Hanne Scholz co-authored a paper on Placenta-derived Cell Therapy for COVID-19 pasients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Gareth Sullivan has co-authored a paper in an ongoing collaboration. The paper demonstrates the recapitulation of both neuronal molecular and biochemical defects associated with POLG mutation in a human stem cell model. Furthermore, we provide insight into how mitochondrial dysfunction and mtDNA alterations influence cellular fate determining processes.

Cécile Echalier joined the Hybrid Technology Hub – Centre for Organ on a Chip Technology – in February. She was awarded an outgoing Scientia fellowship to develop an islets-on-chip platform with integrated biosensors.

Justyna Stokowiec is the principal engineer at The Hybrid Technology Hub Core Facility. Justyna will be responsible for handling, delivering and quality control of the induced pluripotent stemcells, as well as the daily running of the core facility laboratory.

Centre PI Professor Jan Helge Solbakk, with centre director Professor Stefan Krauss as partner were successfully awarded funding from the EU Horizon 2020;  Science with and for Society-program (SwafS) with the project The ethics of organoids (HYBRIDA). The project is granted 3,0 million EURO and the project period is three years (2021-2023).

This semester, three master students involved in HTH and Organ-on-a-chip-projects submitted their master thesis. The students graduated from the Department of Chemistry, UiO and they all recieved the grade A!

Jo Waaler and Stefan Krauss published an article on the chemical synthesis of a novel tankyrase inhibitor series. Tankyrase1/2 is a central biotarget at the cross road between WNT/YAP and PGC-1a signaling with implications in tissue differentiation and a broad spectrum of diseases.

Gareth Sullivan has co-authored a paper on the utilisation of brain organoids to demonstrate that the bromodomain chromatin reader protein BRD4 dysregulations is a critical driver for RETT syndrome (RTT) etiology and suggests that targeting BRD4 could be a potential therapeutic opportunity for RTT. 

Several Groups at the Hybrid Technology Hub are involved in Research on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the COVID19 diesease. Here we present Simon Rayners project; Integrated novel intervention strategies for COVID-19 : Using data mining to fight current and future pandemics

Shadab Abadpour and Hanne Scholz have a new article out in Diabetologica on improving human islet survival and function.

Stefan Krauss participated in a study by the laboratory of Jens Preben Morth (University of Copenhagen, Demark) “Sjögren syndrome/scleroderma autoantigen 1 is a direct Tankyrase binding partner in cancer cells”.

There's an article in Teknisk Ukeblad on our PhD student Frøydis Sved Skottvoll and her work with analyzing stem cell derived miniature livers. Read the article here.

The blog of the Faculty of Medicine have new blogpost from Steven Wilson, Hanne Scholz, Stefan Krauss and Carl Henrik Gørbitz on the Hybrid Technology Hub and miniature organs. Read the blog post here

Stefan Krauss and Jo Waaler with PA Olsen, A. Aizenshtadt, S. Alam Brinch, E. Dybing and A. Corthay published  “Tankyrase inhibition sensitizes melanoma to PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade in syngeneic mouse models”.

Stefan Krauss and Jo Waaler participated in a study by the laboratory of Sanna Lehtonen (University of Helsinki, Finland) Tankyrase inhibition ameliorates lipid disorder via suppression of PGC-1α PARylation in db/db mice.

Center memebers Hanne Scholz, Essi Niemi and Ørjan Grøttem Martinsen have a New article in IOP science titled: Monitoring the quality of frozen-thawed venous segments using bioimpedance spectroscopy

Mathias Busek is the latest addition to the Hybrid Technology Hub Center of Excellence.