Former FIRST Fellow - Alexandra Peister, Ph.D.



	Alexandra Peister, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biology Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA

Education B.A., Biology, Franklin and Marshall College, 1998 Ph.D., Human Genetics, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 2004 FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical/Biomedical Engineering, Emory University-Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004-2007

Research Statement I did my research at the Emory/Georgia Tech center for tissue engineering in the lab of Robert Guldberg. His lab focuses on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSCs) into the bone. MSCs and AFSCs will be analyzed using 2- and 3-dimensional bone differentiation protocols. The differentiation abilities of the two types of stem cells will be compared for mineral content as well as the percent of the progenitors that can differentiate into bone precursors. The cells will also be compared in 3D cultures in culture systems that can be analyzed by micro-CT for mineral volume.

Recent Publications Peister, A., Woodruff, M.A., Prince, J.J., Gray, D.P., Hutmacher, D.W., Guldberg, R.E. (2011) Cell sourcing for bone tissue engineering: Amniotic fluid stem cells have a delayed, robust differentiation compared to mesenchymal stem cells. Stem Cell Res. 7(1):17-27. Kolambkar, Y.M., Peister, A., Ekaputra, A.K., Hutmacher, D.W., Guldberg, R.E. (2010) Colonization and Osteogenic Differentiation of Different Stem Cell Sources on Electrospun Nanofiber Meshes. Tissue Eng Part A. 16(10):3219-30. PMCID: PMC2947421. Peister, A., Deutsch, E.R., Kolambkar, Y., Hutmacher, D.W., Guldberg, R. (2009) Amniotic fluid stem Cells produce robust mineral deposits on biodegradable scaffolds. Tissue Eng. Part A, 15(10):3129-38. PMCID: PMC2792053. Peister, A., Porter, B.D., Kolambkar, Y.M., Hutmacher, D.W., Guldberg, R.E. (2008) Osteogenic differentiation of amniotic fluid stem cells. Biomed Mater Eng. 2008;18(4-5):241-6. Guldberg, R.E., Duvall, C.L., Peister, A., Oest, M.E., Lin, A.S., Palmer, A.W., Levenston, M.E. (2008) 3D imaging of tissue integration with porous biomaterials. Biomaterials. 29(28):3757-61. PMCID: PMC2553033. Guldberg, R.E., Oest, M.E., Dupont, K., Peister, A., Deutsch, E., Kolambkar, Y., Mooney, D. (2007) Biologic augmentation of polymer scaffolds for bone repair. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 7(4):333-4. Kolambkar, Y.M., Peister, A., Soker, S., Atala, A., Guldberg, R.E. (2007) Chondrogenic differentiation of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells. J Mol Histol. 38(5):405-13. Porter, B.D., Lin, A.S., Peister, A., Hutmacher, D., Guldberg, R.E. (2007) Noninvasive image analysis of 3D construct mineralization in a perfusion bioreactor. Biomaterials. 28(15):2525-33. Tolar, J., Nauta, A.J., Osborn, M.J., Panoskaltsis Mortari, A., McElmurry, R.T., Bell, S., Xia, L., Zhou, N., Riddle, M., Schroeder, T.M., Westendorf, J.J., McIvor, R.S., Hogendoom, P.C., Szuhai, K., Oseth, L., Hirsch, B., Yant, S.R., Kay, M.A., Peister, A., Prockop, D.J., Fibbe, W.E., Blazar, B.R. (2007) Sarcoma Derived from Cultured Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Stem Cells. 25(2):371-9. Oh, T., Peister, A., Ohashi, K., Park, F. (2006) Transplantation of murine bone marrow stromal cells under the kidney capsule to secrete coagulation factor VIII. Cell Transplant. 2006;15(7):637-45. Peister, A., Zeitouni, S., Pfankuch, T., Reger, R.L., Prockop, D.J., Raber, J. (2006) Novel object recognition in Apoe(-/-) mice improved by neonatal implantation of wild-type multipotential stromal cells. Exp Neurol. 201(1):266-9. Wang, G., Bunnell, B.A., Painter, R.G., Quiniones, B.C., Tom, S., Lanson, N.A. Jr, Spees, J.L., Bertucci, D., Peister, A., Weiss, D.J., Valentine, V.G., Prockop, D.J., Kolls, J.K. (2005) Adult stem cells from bone marrow stroma differentiate into airway epithelial cells: potential therapy for cystic fibrosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 102(1):186-91. Gregory, C.A., Gunn, W.G., Peister, A., Prockop, D.J. (2004) An Alizarin red-based assay of mineralization by adherent cells in culture: comparison with cetylpyridinium chloride extraction. Anal Biochem. 329(1):77-84. Spees, J.L., Gregory, C.A., Singh, H., Tucker, H.A., Peister, A., Lynch, P.J., Hsu, S.C., Smith, J., Prockop, D.J. (2004) Internalized antigens must be removed to prepare hypoimmunogenic mesenchymal stem cells for cell and gene therapy. Mol Ther. 9(5):747-56. Peister, A., Mellad, J.A., Wang, M., Tucker, H.A., Prockop, D.J. (2004) Stable transfection of MSCs by electroporation. Gene Ther. 11(2):224-8. Peister, A., Mellad, J.A., Larson, B.L., Hall, B.M., Gibson, L.F., Prockop, D.J. (2004) Adult stem cells from bone marrow (MSCs) isolated from different strains of inbred mice vary in surface epitopes, rates of proliferation, and differentiation potential. Blood. 103(5):1662-8.

Morehouse College Department of Biology Hope Hall, Room 315 830 Westview Drive, SW Atlanta, GA 30314 Tel: 404.653.7879 Email: apeister@morehouse.edu

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