Katarzyna Kopanska

• PhD in biological Sciences University of Cambridge
• Project Manager at ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences

The mechanical properties of tumors and the tumor environment provide important information for the progression and characterization of cancer. Tumors are surrounded by an extracellular matrix (ECM) dominated by collagen I. The geometrical and mechanical properties of the ECM play an important role for the initial step in the formation of metastasi...

Additive manufacturing has been well established in many sectors, including the medical industry. For load-bearing bone implants, titanium and its alloys, such as Ti6Al4V, are widely used due to their high strength to weight ratio and osseointegrative properties. However, bone resorption and loosening of implants is related to the significantly hig...

Recent advances in microphysiological systems (MPS) promise a global paradigm shift in drug development, diagnostics, disease prevention, and therapy. The expectation is that these systems will model healthy and various diseased stages and disease progression to predict toxicity, immunogenicity, ADME profiles, and treatment efficacies. MPS will pro...

Bioprinting is the technology of choice for realizing functional tissues such as vascular system, muscle, cartilage and bone. In the future, bioprinting will influence the way we engineer tissues and bring it to a new level of physiological relevance. That was the topic of the 2017 TEDD Annual Meeting at ZHAW Waedenswil on 8th and 9th November. In...

Many different cell types including fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and cancer cells exert traction forces on the fibrous components of the extracellular matrix. This can be observed as matrix contraction both macro- and microscopically in three-dimensional (3D) tissues models such as collagen type I gels. The quantification of...

Purpose Diatoms, unicellular microalgae with silica cell walls, have strong adhesive properties, which are dominated by chemical interactions between secreted organic material and the substrate. Possible technological applications of diatoms are likely to involve the adhesion of silica particles, or derivatives, which have been cleaned of organic m...

Cleavage of the collagen type I carboxy-terminal peptide (CICP) from the procollagen molecule is an essential step in collagen biosynthesis. The commercial CICP ELISA (Quidel Corporation, USA), developed for quantifying CICP in serum in clinical monitoring, is often also applied to cellular studies as a measure of collagen synthesis. However, unlik...

Alterations in the composition of and an imbalance in the me- tabolism of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in connective tissues (CTs) are associated with many pathological conditions such as impaired tissue regeneration, osteoporosis, arteriosclerosis and some types of cancers. Adequate nutrition that provides essential trace elements is crucial in...

Manganese is an essential element but no status markers exist. The present study was designed to investigate potential biological indicators of dietary manganese exposure. In healthy human volunteers subjects maintained their normal diet and were supplemented with placebo or 10 mg Mn/day for 28 days. We measured whole blood Mn concentration, leukoc...

Pursuant to Directive 2000/36/EC, it is possible to add a fat other than cocoa fat to chocolate products; its addition can amount to 5 % of the general content of cocoa mass. The main objective of this paper was the analysis of fats in some selected dark chocolates available on the Polish market. After the qualitative and quantitative analysis of f...