Angela Pitenis, Ph.D., Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara, Cancer Engineering

Speaker:

Angela Pitenis, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Materials                                            

University of California, Santa Barbara

Title: Cancer Engineering

Abstract:

Cancer has afflicted patients since time immemorial. Cancer is a group of diseases associated with abnormal cells that divide uncontrollably, circumvent cell death, recruit nutrients through angiogenesis, and invade healthy tissue near and far from the initial site (metastasis). While many cancers, including pancreatic cancer, develop out of sight within the body, recent advancements in 3D culture techniques have enabled continuous in vitro observations of tumor growth and proliferation. Our group processes charge-neutral hydrogels into microgels to create transparent, low yield stress materials that gently support long-term, continuous cell culture. We combined this 3D culture platform with next-generation RNA sequencing to investigate the extent to which living cells “remember” the mechanical and rheological properties of their microenvironment (“mechanical memory”). In these experiments, we cultured pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells in soft or stiff microgels for 6 h, then transported “soft-primed” and “stiff-primed” cells into either soft or stiff microgels for an additional 18 h. Differential gene expression analysis suggests that even in acute (short-term) culture conditions, PDAC cells exhibit some “mechanical memory”. The results of this work may shed light on the mechanisms of cancer invasion and pancreatic cancer patient outcomes.

Bio:

Angela Pitenis is an associate professor in the Materials Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests are focused on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of friction, deformation, and wear across soft, biological, and bio-inspired materials. She leads a multidisciplinary team of materials scientists, mechanical engineers, and molecular biologists and has co-authored over 50 refereed journal articles. Angela serves on the Materials Department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and serves as the Diversity Officer and IRG-2 co-leader for the Materials Research Laboratory, a MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award No. DMR 2308708. She was awarded the NSF CAREER award in 2021, the UC Santa Barbara Margaret T. Getman Service to Students award in 2022, and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Early Career Award in 2024.