Activities

The research work in TECHNOBEAT is divided into 9 work packages (WPs) with a specific partner dedicated to lead respective WPs which reflects that partners’ area of expertise.
Within TECHNOBEAT the industrial partners DASGIP-Eppendorf and OVIZIO collaborate to advance bioreactor- and cell monitoring technologies to resolve specific challenges of hiPS cells grown and differentiated as cell-aggregates in suspension culture. The third industrial partner in the alliance, KADIMASTEM, is working on clinical- and regulatory-compliant processes for the cultivation and differentiation of hiPSCs.

The academic partners are working on processes for the efficient production of additional cell types which are important for the regeneration of myocardial tissue.  At the Paracelsus Medical University, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) will be generated and provided to MHH, to support µ-tissue formation, engraftment and long-term cell survival after transplantation.

Since safety aspects of cell therapies play a central role in clinical translation, the partner lab at the University of Sheffield (UK) is involved in examining the process-dependent occurrence of genomic aberrations at the cellular level. The formation of cardiac tissues by combining the different cell types will be bundled at the MHH. Under the guidance of The University Medical Center Utrecht these tissues are transplanted for preclinical testing into damaged hearts in animal models.  Monitoring the (electro-) physiological integration of the transplanted cells is another key of the study since transplanted cells may induce live-threatening arrhythmias in the recipient heat, thus raising a key safety concern.

Work Packages

WP 1    hiPSC derivation and engineering

WP 2    Process development at GMP standards

WP 3    Bioreactor tools and monitoring technologies

WP 4    Monitoring of genetic variants and safety

WP 5    Cardiomyocytes (CM) differentiation and µ-tissue technologies

WP 6    Endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes (PCs) differentiation

WP 7    Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC)

WP 8    Large animal model, in vivo cell monitoring and function

WP 9    Regulatory compliance and exploitation

WP 10   Management & communication