Flexible (Inter)disciplinarians

Dennis Discher’s lab spans the bioengineering and cell biology departments at Penn. A major research focus in the lab considers how the stiffness of the microenvironment around cells can alter the differentiation pathway of those cells. For example, when mesenchymal stem cells were grown for one week on substrates whose elasticity was designed to match the elasticity of brain, muscle, or pre-calcified bone, the cells expressed lineage markers that were characteristic of each respective tissue type. A review co-authored by Dr. Discher and Cell Biology and Physiology Ph.D. student Allison Zajac summarizes the recent work in this field.

Related Links of Interest:

Review of substrate stiffnessand cell differentiation
Dennis Discher Faculty Page
Discher Lab