Shanshan Du
Interview with Shanshan Du – PhD Candidate at CÚRAM
I’m Shanshan Du, a PhD student started from February 2017. I come from Hebei province, north of China. I graduated from Hebei Normal University and received a BSc in Biology Science and a MSc in Physiology. After that, I spent around four years as a TEM/SEM technician in Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Being a scientist is my dream, I spend a long time seeking a chance to do PhD. So, when I first met Tim at the campus, I asked whether he has a PhD position, fortunately, he has, and I got this position. That’s why I’m here.
The aim of my project is to develop a GMP grade product which will improve diabetic wound healing. Diabetes is a worldwide disease. There are 415 million people in the world suffered from diabetic complications. Diabetic foot is one of the major complications, the wound healing delayed due to hyperglycemia, impaired growth factor production and so on. So far, there’s no effective therapy for wound healing, around 24% of diabetic patients with foot ulcer require amputations. So, develop an effective product to improve would healing is an urgent problem.
What I’m going to do is using macromolecular crowding in stem cell culture to accelerate the extracellular matrix deposition. The components of matrix are growth factors, angiogenic factors, cytokines and so on, they help the wound healed quickly. Macromolecular crowding is kind of protein, it helps the cells secrete extracellular matrix efficiently. Then I will get a cell sheet like a band-aid, which can be used in the wound. So, this work includes two parts. First, I should get the cell sheet, and make sure the cells are happy, and the matrix contains all the factors that good for the wound healing. Second, I will use the cell sheet in the animal models to see the wound closure rate, and whether they have side effects.
I think the most challenging part of my work is How to start. Because we don’t know the best conditions for stem cell culture, we don’t know the best concentration of macromolecular crowding in cell culture. So, we designed a range of experiments to find the best conditions. When we finally find out the results, we are so excited. That is the most amazing part of doing science, you have so many questions, you face so many difficulties at the beginning, after a thousand times of trials, then you succeed. You find a critical protein for a disease, you find a new theory can be write in the books, your products can improve the life quality of patients …… That’s why I choose science, it’s challenging, meaningful, interesting and amazing. It makes me see a new world, think in a different way!