Date
Friday May 2nd, 2025 Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Location
Medical Sciences Building Room 2172
Speaker
Dr. Elisha Krieg, PhD
Group Leader, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany
Abstract
Synthetic chemistry has enabled the creation of materials with remarkable properties, yet these materials often lack the dynamic nature exhibited by biological systems. Living matter is self- organizing and responsive, which is critical for many processes, including cell differentiation, sensing, transport, actuation, and—more generally—adaptation to internal and external stimuli. Intriguingly, incorporating concepts from DNA nanotechnology into the design of synthetic materials provides a spectrum of features and a level of control reminiscent of biological systems. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress in developing such materials. We leverage DNA nanotechnology to introduce programmable mechanical cues into biocompatible hydrogel matrices that guide and interrogate the development of embedded cells and organoids. These matrices are compatible with diverse human cells and organoids, including induced pluripotent stem cells, placenta organoids, cerebral organoids, and kidney organoids. By modulating material stiffness and stress relaxation, we identify two distinct timescales of mechanosensitive processes controlling the polarity of epithelial cells. Furthermore, switchable DNA crosslinker modules enable dynamic viscoelasticity adjustments during ongoing cell culture, inducing reversible cell polarity inversions and guiding morphogenesis in complex multicellular structures. This programmable material presents a valuable tool for diverse applications in biophysics, tissue engineering, and disease modeling.
Biography
Elisha Krieg studied chemistry at the University of Cologne and the Weizmann Institute of Science. He received his doctoral degree at the Weizmann Institute in 2013, focusing on the development of stimuli- responsive and recyclable supramolecular polymers. In 2014, Elisha became an HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, where he conducted research in the area of DNA nanotechnology. In 2018, he joined the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF) and the TU Dresden as an independent research associate. In 2021 he was awarded the “TUD Young Investigator” status at the Faculty of Chemistry and Food Chemistry at TU Dresden. Elisha currently heads the DNA Nanotechnology research group at the Division of Polymer Biomaterials Science at IPF.