Darinka Klumpers
Education
- 2003-2006: BSc Medical Natural Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2006-2009: MSc Medical Physics, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Research Focus
Regeneration of skeletal tissues is an important focus of the tissue engineering research field. Since we could gain great insight from nature's own process of bone and cartilage formation, valuable information can be attained from embryonic development. My research focuses on the early development of the vertebral column, its patterned structure of alternating bone and cartilage forming an interesting model system. The embryonic development of the vertebral column starts with the formation of a linear pattern of mesenchymal stem cell condensations along the cranial-caudal body axis. While the cell condensations will eventually become the intervertebral discs (cartilage), the non-condensed regions will become the vertebrae (bone). We wonder what initially triggers the mesenchymal stem cells to form clusters, and in particular why these clusters form a regular linear pattern. And subsequently, why do the cells in the condensations differentiate towards cartilage and the non-condensed towards bone?
Publications
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Breuls RG, Klumpers DD, Everts V, Smit TH. Collagen type V modulates fibroblast behavior dependent on substrate stiffness. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Mar 6;380(2):425-9
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Krishnan R*, Klumpers DD*, Park CY, Rajendran K, Trepat X, van Bezu J, van Hinsbergh VW, Carman CV, Brain JD, Fredberg JJ, Butler JP, van Nieuw Amerongen GP. Substrate stiffening promotes endothelial monolayer disruption through enhanced physical forces. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2011 Jan;300(1):C146-54.