WED AM News: Scientists in Madison studying synthetic materials with applications in stem cell research; JFC meeting tomorrow to review DOJ settlements, agency funding requests

September 25, 2024

— Scientists with the Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison have been testing new synthetic materials used for turning stem cells into heart muscle cells, with applications in bio-manufacturing.

Danielle Desa is a post-doctoral fellow with the research institute, which has deep ties to UW-Madison. She spoke yesterday during a Wisconsin Technology Council luncheon in Madison, putting a spotlight on imaging techniques used to assess these synthetic materials.

The materials — used as a scaffold for growing stem cells as they differentiate — could play a key role in efforts to treat damage to heart muscle cells resulting from cardiovascular disease, Desa explained. While humans can’t regrow these heart cells, called cardiomyocytes, on their own, stem cells can be “very efficiently” transformed into the desired cardiac cells.

“Having these cell batches available for us to do research with opens up lots of avenues for regenerative medicine, disease modeling and cardiotoxic drug screening,” Desa said.

While getting the stem cells to become the heart cells is possible, she noted “the real trick is to get them to actually behave and mature like an adult heart cell would” within the body. In order to study them as they mature, scientists often use a material called Matrigel that’s derived from mouse tumors. But batches of this membrane material can vary in their chemical and physical makeup in inconsistent ways, Desa said.

In hopes of creating a better alternative to this material, UW-Madison Prof. William Murphy is working on synthetic options that would be more consistent.

“Something that’s really cool and great for us as scientists, is that these synthetic gels have independently tunable properties,” Desa said. “So if you want to, say, change how stiff the gel is or the concentration of one component you’re putting in, you can do that one thing at a time, and see which combination of those things impact the maturation of these cells.”

To track that maturation process on the synthetic scaffold, researchers including Desa used an imaging technique to see metabolic changes in the developing cells over the course of the experiment.

“We were actually able to do this imaging across the entire gel, kind of assess that substrate, that surface as a whole, and we found that the gels fabricated by the Murphy lab do support cardiomyocyte growth, differentiation and maturation,” she said, adding the team used “accessible tools to make this technology something that could be adopted in the bio-manufacturing sphere.”

See more on the work being done at the Murphy lab.

— The Joint Finance Committee will meet tomorrow to review three settlements the Department of Justice reached in lawsuits and consider funding requests from the departments of Workforce Development and Transportation.

DWD wants the committee to release $500,000 from its supplemental appropriation to fund grants for a new commercial driver license training grant program. The 2023-25 state budget put the money into the committee’s supplemental appropriation to be released once DWD had established the program. The grants awarded may not exceed 50% of the costs to train someone to operate commercial motor vehicles or $3,000, whichever is less.

Meanwhile, DOT wants a one-time increase of $5.6 million in spending authority through the transportation fund to cover the costs of manufacturing and distributing new license plates. A law signed in March 2022 requires the agency to replace license plates that are 10 years or older, and the funding would go toward those increased costs.

The three DOJ cases the committee will take up include $320,000 in penalties. The largest is a $160,000 settlement reached with Gundersen Lutheran Administrative Services Inc. in La Crosse over violations of air pollution regulations through the use of a wood-fired boiler that generates electricity for its medical campus.

See the committee materials.

— Corn and soybean growth was sped up recently by “above normal” temperatures in Wisconsin, according to a USDA report.

The agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reports 82% of this year’s corn crop in the state has reached the “dent stage” — a signal of crop maturity — which is three days behind last year but equal to the five-year average.

The harvest of corn for silage was 49% complete as of Sunday, one day ahead of last year and two days ahead of the average.

Meanwhile, 65% of soybeans were dropping leaves at the end of last week, seven days ahead of last year’s pace and five days ahead of the average.

The report shows “mostly dry” weather helped farmers make progress on harvesting corn silage, cutting hay and seeding winter wheat, while other activities such as harvesting potatoes, spreading manure and fall tillage were underway.

See the report.

— The gBETA Kenosha program is now taking applications for its winter 2024 program from entrepreneurs based in southeastern Wisconsin.

Organizers for the gener8tor program yesterday announced an Oct. 30 deadline for applications from interested startup companies. They will be choosing five companies from among applicants for the winter cohort, set to kick off Dec. 5.

The free seven-week program includes individual coaching and mentorship from gener8tor startup growth experts, weekly “Lunch & Learns,” investor and accelerator pitches and various perks from technical services providers including Microsoft and Amazon. It runs through early 2025 with a pitch night slated for Feb. 12.

Find application details here and check out an earlier podcast with Bethany Larsen, program manager for gBETA Kenosha.

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