Project name: Generation of a human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived testicular somatic niche to support in vitro human spermatogenesis
The project will focus on the generation of hiPSC-derived somatic cells in the germ cell niche (including Sertoli-like cells), and characterization of the derived cells. The final aim is to co-culture the hiPSC derived somatic cells with germ cells, to direct germ cell differentiation into the male direction to support in vitro spermatogenesis.
Mathangi is a second year PhD candidate at the Reproductive Biology laboratory (LVV) at Amsterdam UMC. Since her Bachelor’s education in Biotechnology from SRM University, India, she has a consistently good track record. She carried out her bachelor’s thesis at the Harvard-MIT-HST, USA in the Immuno-engineering Research Laboratory, where she designed chimeric nanoparticles for modulating macrophages in the cancer microenvironment. After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, she came to the Netherlands to pursue her Master’s degree at the Wageningen University and Research (WUR). At WUR, she was a part of three different labs, for an internship and two theses. She carried out her first internship at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where she constructed tools required for plant-orthology studies in C.mimosoides and symbiotic assays in M. truncatula. Following this, she completed two theses at the Human and Animal Physiology Laboratory, where she studied the effects of IL-6 on mitochondrial dynamics in skeletal muscle in cancer-induced cachexia and the consequences of c-kit mutations on fertility in young Witrik cattle, respectively.
Currently, her PhD project focuses on the development of an induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-based culture system to model in vitro spermatogenesis. The purpose of developing such a system would be to comprehend the developmental process of the gonads and its somatic niche, and thereby be able to identify factors responsible for infertility or other disorders of sex development (DSD).