Our Research
In the Stevens lab, we investigate how cells form and maintain tissues. We employ synthetic biology to engineer molecules that direct cellular adhesion and elucidate chemical principles of multicellular organization and tumor progression. Through developing these tools, our lab aims to advance cell therapies for cancer treatment and regenerative medicine.
Synthetic Cell Adhesion
Multicellular organisms employ cellular adhesion for a host of critical functions, including tissue development and repair, neuronal wiring, and immune cell trafficking. These processes (and a plethora of others) are controlled by a diverse group of receptors called cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), which transduce an extracellular binding event into an intracellular signaling response that typically includes cytoskeletal reorganization. We apply a platform of synthetic cell adhesion molecules (synCAMs) that enable programmable targeted adhesion while retaining the capability of endogenous CAM intracellular domains to engage the cytoskeleton and mediate tight contact.
Synthetic cell adhesion enables the attachment of arbitrary cells with tunable adhesion strength and geometry. The strength of adhesion is dictated by molecular properties such as the identity of the intracellular domain.
Programming Tissue Formation
Programming adhesion can remodel how distinct tissues interact to yield novel tissue structures with cooperative mechanics. We will investigate how cell patterning contributes to tissue function to create custom organoids for disease modeling and application in regenerative medicine.
We aim to design enhanced cell therapeutics that can specifically engage and eliminate tumors. Our lab seeks to create tools that overcome existing limitations in how therapeutic cells traffic to and recognize solid tumors.
Improving Cell Immunotherapy
CD8+ CAR T cell
U87 Glioma Cell