D. V. Schaffer

Evolving Membrane-Associated Accessory Protein Variants for Improved Adeno-Associated Virus Production

This study evolves MAAP variants to enhance AAV production, finding that selected variants improve vector genome packaging in multiple AAV serotypes.

Optogenetic Instruction of Cell Fate by Temporal Patterning of Mechanobiological Signals

This study shows that ECM stiffness regulates neural stem cell fate by modulating Rho GTPase activation frequency, with high-frequency activation promoting astrocytic differentiation and low-frequency activation driving neurogenesis.

Optimal trade-off control in machine learning-based library design, with application to adeno-associated virus (AAV) for gene therapy

This paper develops a machine learning method to design more effective AAV libraries with better packaging capabilities and diversity, achieving higher success rates in gene therapy applications.

3D Microenvironment-Specific Mechanosensing Regulates Neural Stem Cell Lineage Commitment

This study identifies a 3D-specific mechanosensing mechanism in neural stem cells, showing that Egr1 mediates stiffness-dependent lineage commitment in a range more relevant to brain tissue.

Directed Evolution of AAV Targeting Primate Retina by Intravitreal Injection Identifies R100, a Variant Demonstrating Robust Gene Delivery and Therapeutic Efficacy in Non-Human Primates

scAAVengr: Single-cell transcriptome-based quantification of engineered AAVs in non-human primate retina

The paper develops scAAVengr, a single-cell pipeline to quantify AAV gene expression efficiency in non-human primate retina, demonstrating its utility with a top-performing AAV variant.

Engineered illumination devices for optogenetic control of cellular signaling dynamics

The paper introduces LAVA devices for spatiotemporal optogenetic control of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in hESCs, showing dose-dependent activation and tissue patterning.

Optogenetic control of Wnt signaling for modeling early embryogenic patterning with human pluripotent stem cells

This study uses optogenetic control of Wnt signaling to induce mesendoderm differentiation and gastrulation-like morphogenesis in human pluripotent stem cells.