Developing An Adequate Synthetic Mucus Model - Paris, France - Université Paris Cité

Université Paris Cité

Entreprise vérifiée

Paris, France

il y a 1 semaine

Posté par:

Sophie Dupont

beBee Recruiter

Description

Developing an adequate synthetic mucus model:

Réf

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ABG-118230

Stage master 2 / Ingénieur
Durée 6 mois
Salaire net mensuel 550€ 21/11/2023
Université Paris Cité
Lieu de travail
Paris IledeFrance France
Champs scientifiques
Physique
Biologie
Santé, médecine humaine, vétérinaire

Mots clés

Mucus, hydrogel, biomaterials, lung disease 22/12/2023
Établissement recruteur:
Site web:
The trainee will integrate the group of Dr Jean-François Berret at the laboratory Matières et Systèmes Complexes (MSC). MSC is part of Université Paris Cité and is located on the Campus des Grands Moulins in Paris. MSC is a physics laboratory of 70 permanent researchers and 40 PhD students and postdocs. There is a wide range of research themes at MSC, including rheology, fluid dynamics, and biophysics.

Description:

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) caused 4 million deaths worldwide in CRD treatments are often administered by inhalation in particulate formulations. However, mucociliary clearance acts as an effective physical barrier that prevents drugs from reaching the target cells. This mechanism relies on the beating of cilia on the bronchi surface, which allows the displacement of the overlying mucus layer. Inhaled drugs are thus trapped by the mucus and quickly evacuated from the airways.
The global objective of the project is to model the mechanism of mucociliary clearance using a microfluidic chip, to assess drug penetration through the moving mucus and thus provide a screening platform for new drug formulations. The trainee will focus on

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developing an adequate synthetic mucus model to use in the chip. Pulmonary mucus collected from either patients or cell cultures is indeed difficult to handle as low volumes are collected and cold chain and fast processing are required. Therefore, we aim to develop a mucus model obtained from purified mucins.

The trainee will address the following scientific question: how to reproduce a synthetic mucus model that displays the same structural, rheological, and physicochemical properties as native human pulmonary mucus? 3 different types of mucus will be prepared:
Synthetic mucus obtained from purified mucins (varying mucin composition, buffers, and concentrations);

- _In vitro_ pulmonary mucus collected from epithelial tissue cultures of healthy and diseased donors (MucilAirTM, Epithelix);
- _Ex vivo_ mucus collected from the lungs of patients after lung transplantation (collaboration with the Hôpital BichatClaude Bernard).

All 3 types of mucus will be thoroughly characterized and compared regarding 3 types of properties:
_Structure_
The mucus porous structure will be observed via transmission electron microscopy and serialblock face SEM, which provides 3D imaging (platforms at ITODYS and the Institut Jacques Monod, UPC). _Rheology_
Stresscontrolled rheometers will be used at MSC. For lowvolume samples, magnetic wirebased microrheology will be applied. _Physicochemistry_
Exposed functional groups and bonding states will be determined by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy. Zeta potential measurements will be performed on diluted mucus to determine the surface charge.
The goal will be to obtain synthetic mucus models that reproduce the properties of healthy and diseased mucus.
The trainee will be cosupervised by Dr Marine Le Goas, who is working in Dr Berret's group as a postdoc.

Profil:

Academic training in one of the following fields: physics or biomedical engineering
High motivation to carry out a multidisciplinary research project at the interface of soft matter and biology
Strong appetite for experimentation
Team spirit

Prise de fonction: