________________________________________________________________________________
About us
The Department of Cell and Tissue Engineering (DCTE) originated from the Cell Culture Laboratory, formed in 1990 for the purpose of making proviosions for fundamental, developmental and applied research and medical diagnosis.
The Department is available for research within research projects, within doctoral, master and graduation paper research, for practical instruction classes within the study programs organized at the Faculty, for diagnostic analyses and assays, for analyses and tests for industrial purposes and after request of various clients.
At the Department, we perform studies on various in vitro cellular models, both on primary cell cultures isolated from human and animal material and on commercial cell lines. The Department has at its disposal a large collection of cell lines of different species and tissue origin. Functional and morphological studies of human and animal tissues and designed tissue matrices are also done at the Department.
One of the most important research areas of the Department are adult stem cells and studies of their potential use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
The researchers of the Department collaborate with a large number of laboratories, institutes and faculties in our country and abroad.
Person responsible for the Department of Cell and Tissue Engineering:
Assistant Professor Sanja Stojanović (sanja.stojanovic@medfak.ni.ac.rs; s.sanja88@gmail.com)
________________________________________________________________________________
Activities
Research
The research performed at the Department can be divided into several areas of research:
- Study of adult stem cells isolated from human fatty tissue, animal fatty tissue and bone marrow, and study of the potential of isolated adult stem cells to be used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine;
- Study of biocompatibility of different natural and synthetic biomaterials on primary and permanent cell cultures and assessment of their potential use in regenerative medicine as tissue scaffolds in various branches of surgery;
- Examination of designed 3D scaffolds on cell cultures and their preparation for in vivo studies;
- Studies of biocompatibility of dental materials on primary and permanent cell cultures;
- Testing of plant extracts, newly synthesized chemical compounds, drugs, and other biologically active agents on various cell cultures;
- Testing of potential cosmetic preparations and biologically active compounds intended for cosmetic use, of natural or synthetic origin, on various in vitro cell models;
- Testing of effects of foods and food components on cell cultures.
Methods and analyses
The following analyses and tests are performed at the Department of Cell and Tissue Engineering on cell cultures in vitro:
- cytotoxicity tests
- tests of apoptosis and necrosis
- tests of cell proliferation, migration and adhesion
- cell cycle analysis
- genotoxicity tests
- functional and morphological tests for the assessment of osteogenic, adipogenic, endotelogenic, and chondrogenic differentiation of cells in interactions with biologically active agents
- functional and morphological tests for the assessment of differentiation potential of adult stem cells
- tests of phagocytosis, analysis of in vitro antiinflammatory activity and immunocompatibility of biologically active agents
- analysis of expression of specific proteins in cells and tissues
The following methods are applied at the Department:
- isolation of cells, cultivation of cells, standard methods of work with cell cultures
- methods of light microscopy for cell culture and tissue analysis (phase contrast, light field, fluorescence)
- flow cytometry
- automated analysis of cells and particular cell functions in real time by way of impedance measurement
- cytochemical and immunocytochemical staining of cells
- fluorescent and immunofluorescent staining of cells
- ELISA tests
- histochemical and immunohistochemical staining of tissues
- biological assays and biochemical methods of analysis of cell functions
________________________________________________________________________________
Resources
Equipment
Inverted light microscope „Zeiss Axio Observer .Z1“ (Carl Zeiss, Germany) equipped with:
- halogen and fluorescent lamp
- two high resolution cameras: AxioCam HRc and AxioCam MR
- ApoTome.2 system
- incubation system
- ZEN lite software for image analysis
Flow Cytometer „BD LSRFortessa™ cell analyzer“ (BD Biosciences) equipped with:
- 3 lasers (blue, red, purple)
- 8 detectors
- BD FACSDiva™ software v.8
Real-time cell analyzer “xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) DP system” (Acea Biosciences) equipped with:
- platform for 3×16 well plates (plate types: “E-Plate 16” i “CIM-Plate 16”)
- RTCA 2.0 Software
Multichannel spectrophotometer (ELISA reader) Multiskan Ascent 96/384 Plate Reader“ (Thermolab Systems)
MSC-Advantage™ Class II Biological Safety Cabinet (Thermo Scientific)
CO2 incubator Binder – Series CB with autosterilization with hot air, system for gas supply and detection and provision of humidity with protection against condensation (Binder).
Incubator Classic.Line “Binder – Series B, Model 28” with mechanical and digital adjustment (Binder)
Reservoir for storing biological specimens in liquid nitrogen, type “MVE – XC 47/11-10”, with 10 canisters and nitrogen capacity of 47.4 liters.
Other (low-value) equipment:
- Centrifuge Universal “Hettich” with cooling
- MiniSpin® microcentrifuge “Eppendorf”
- MPS-1, High–Speed Multi Plate Shaker “BioSan”
- MSH-300, Magnetic Stirrer with hot plate “BioSan”
Staff/Researchers/Associates
Staff of the Scientific Research Center for Biomedicine, researchers and teachers and associates of the Faculty of Medicine are involved in the Department activities:
Sanja Stojanovic, Asst. Prof.
Dragana Trickovic Vukic, expert associate, BSc biologist
Teachers and associated of the academic course Biology with human genetics
________________________________________________________________________________
Results
Projects
At the Department of Cell and Tissue Engineering the research within several scientific projects has taken place.
Projects of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
- “Virtual human skeletal-articular system and its use in preclinical and clinical practice” (Head, prof. dr Stevo Najman), 2011/2016
- “Regeneration of skeletal tissues supported by biomaterials as tissue scaffolds – an in vivo and in vitro study (Head, prof. dr Stevo Najman), 2006/2010
- “Biocompatibility and possible use of biomaterials based on hydroxyapatites and biopolymers in tissue reparation”, an experimental and clinical study (Head, prof. dr Vojin Savic), 2006/2010
Publications
Najman SJ, Cvetković VJ, Najdanović JG, Stojanović S, Vukelić-Nikolić MĐ, Vučković I, Petrović D. Ectopic osteogenic capacity of freshly isolated adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction cells supported with platelet-rich plasma: a simulation of intraoperative procedure. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery 2016. In Press, Accepted Manuscript doi: 10.1016/j.jcms.2016.08.011. IF 1.592
Najdanović JG, Cvetković VJ, Stojanović S, Vukelić-Nikolić MĐ, Čakić-Milošević MM, Živković J, Najman S. Effects of bone tissue engineering triad components on vascularization process: comparative gene expression and histological evaluation in an ectopic bone forming model. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2016.1213662 IF 0.373
Takić Miladinov D, Tomić SLj, Stojanović S, Najdanović J, Filipović J, Trajanović M, Najman S. Synthesis, swelling properties and evaluation of genotoxicity of hydrogels based on (meth)acrylates and itaconic acid. Materials Research 2016; DOI: 10.1590/1980-5373-MR-2016-0222. IF 0.873
Vuković JS, Babić MM, Antić KM, Filipović JM, Stojanović ST, Najman SJ, Tomić SLj. In vitro cytotoxicity assessment of intelligent acrylate based hydrogels with incorporated copper in wound management. Materials Chemistry and Physics 2016; 175:158–163. IF 2.357
Cvetković V, Najdanović J, Vukelić-Nikolić M, Stojanović S, Najman S. Osteogenic potential of in vitro osteo-induced adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells combined with platelet-rich plasma in an ectopic model. International Orthopaedics 2015; 39(11):2173-2180. IF 2.387
Najdanović J, Cvetković V, Stojanović S, Vukelić-Nikolić M, Stanisavljević M, Živković J, Najman S. The Influence of adipose-derived stem cells induced into endothelial cells on ectopic vasculogenesis and osteogenesis. Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering 2015; 8(4):577-590. IF 1.589
Barbeck М, Najman S, Stojanović S, Mitić Ž, Živković JM, Choukroun J, Kovačević P, Sader R, Kirkpatrick CJ, Ghanaati S. Addition of blood to a phycogenic bone substitute leads to an increased in vivo vascularization. Biomedical materials 2015; 10(5):055007. IF 3.361
Živković J, Najman S, Vukelić M, Stojanović S, Aleksić M, Stanisavljević M, Najdanović J. Osteogenic effect of inflammatory macrophages loaded onto mineral bone substitute in subcutaneous implants. Archives of biological sciences 2015; 67(1):173-186. IF 0.503