Week 5: Eleana

    Our experiment continues this week! The week started off with experiment 2, where T-cells were directly irradiated with different amounts of radiation, (0gy, 0.25gy, 0.5gy, 4gy etc). T-cells are extremely radiosensitive, their viability and proliferation decreases in the presence of radiation. However, we wanted to see if the presence of hydrogels would help to make the T-cells less radiosensitive. The cells were treated with radiation and seeded on gels of different substrate stiffnesses along with controls. 

    On Tuesday, before confirming if we were to give the T-cells an extra dose of radiation, we took their viability. It was observed that even at the lowest dose (0.25gy) that the cells did not survive. We will have to reanalyze how to prepare this experiment and steps that we can take to possibly reduce the radiosensitivity. We then gave an overview of our research in the morning and the current experiments occurring to the Demaria lab and discussed future steps. Our co-culture of glioblastoma cells and T-cells was also concluding, and we began the staining process to prepare them for flow cytometry. On Wednesday, we went through the staining process for surface marker and intracellular staining. This staining continued onto Thursday after our lab meeting where we gave updates as to how our experiment was going and steps we should take to modify it. There was a brain-tumor meeting that we attended to observe and learn about different patient cases including some who had rarer forms or unusual forms of brain cancer. Overall, it was a good week to see the conclusion of one of our experiments and we will evaluate where we will go from there.