University Clinic of Dentistry
Position: PHD Student
ORCID: 0009-0005-2984-8333
T +43 1 2625
katharina.a.schwarz@meduniwien.ac.at
Keywords
Dental Research; Gingiva; Hydrogels; Immunomodulation; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells; Periodontitis; Periodontium; T Cells
Research group(s)
- Competence Center for Periodontal Research
Head: Oleh Andrukhov
Members:
Research interests
My current research focuses on the development of a human 3D gingiva model, which will serve as a basis for a periodontitis model, aiming to help to understand the complex interactions between pathogens, immune cells, and gingiva-derived mesenchymal stromal cells. This interdisciplinary research, involving tissue engineering, microbiology, and immunology, bridges basic research and clinical applications.
Techniques, methods & infrastructure
Rheometry is used to analyse the characteristics of the established hydrogel in which gingiva-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (G-MSCs) are embedded. The metabolic activity and viability of G-MSCs are determined via MTT or Resazurin assays and live/dead staining. Immune mediator expression is analysed by ELISA and RT-qPCR. Also, co-culture models are used to analyse the interaction between various immune cells and embedded G-MSCs.
Selected publications
- Miłek O, Schwarz K, Miletić A, Reisinger J, Kovar A, Behm C and Andrukhov O (2025) Regulation and functional importance of human periodontal ligament mesenchymal stromal cells with various rates of CD146+ cells. Front. Cell Dev. Biol. 13:1532898.
- Behm C, Miłek O, Schwarz K, Rausch-Fan X, Moritz A and Andrukhov O (2024) 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3 distinctly impacts the paracrine and cell-to-cell contact interactions between hPDL-MSCs and CD4+ T lymphocytes. Front. Immunol. 15:1448597.
- Behm C, Miłek O, Schwarz K, Kovar A, Derdak S, Rausch-Fan X, Moritz A, Andrukhov O. (2024) Heterogeneity in dental tissue–derived MSCs revealed by single-cell RNA-seq. J. Dent. Res. 103(11):1141-1152.