Abstract

The blood vessels are among the first organs to develop within a growing embryo. The development of these complex structures, including the self-organization of endothelial cells, has been recapitulated in vitro. However, the interplay of cell migration, cell proliferation, cell differentiation - all directed simultaneously by soluble, signals, insoluble signals (including accessory cells), and local mechanical forces is not well understood, and the relative importance and redundancy of each of these factors remains convoluted. My studies involved 1) developing computational models to explore how motility, proliferation, and differentiation rates affect the co-emergence of vascular cells and vascular cell patterning, 2) the role of mural cell signaling in the self-assembly of vascular networks, and 3) the role of material stiffness in vascular assembly. The data shows that both material stiffness and cell density play important roles in both cell fate and vascular assembly and that mural cell signaling from smooth muscle cells enables long-term stability of vascular networks. These studies contribute to our overall goal toward vascularization of multicellular structures, including organoids and eventually organs. 

Biography

 Jose Zamora holds B.S. degrees in Physics and Biology, as well as an M.S. in Materials and Biomaterials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Merced (UC Merced). He is currently is a Ph.D. student in the Materials and Biomaterials Science and Engineering program at UC Merced. His work focused on using experimental systems and computational modeling to explore the formation of blood vessels, specifically, as it pertains to the microenvironment of the developing vascular (self-assembly of endothelial cells, mural cell signaling, and mechanical signaling). Jose has been a fellow, scholar and mentor for the NSF-CREST Center for Cellular and Biological Machines (CCBM). He has won several awards including the Best Graduate Student award in 2021.