{"id":1959,"date":"2017-09-07T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T19:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/"},"modified":"2023-11-26T08:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T16:21:53","slug":"can-stem-cells-be-tricked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/","title":{"rendered":"Can stem cells be tricked?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

Can stem cells be tricked?<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n \n September 07, 2017<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n
\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n
From left, Rong Lu and Keyue Shen (Photo by Cristy Lytal)<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n

\nRiddle me this: how do you get stem cells to thrive outside of their natural environment? According to\u00a0Keyue Shen<\/a>, if all else fails, you can always trick them\u2014with artificially engineered neighbor cells. Shen, an assistant professor of\u00a0biomedical engineering<\/a>, and\u00a0Rong Lu<\/a>, an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, recently won an\u00a0NIH R21 Trailblazer Award<\/a>\u00a0from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). They were selected for their early-stage investigation to expand healthy stem cells\u00a0ex vivo<\/em>, or outside of the body.\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

The Motherlode<\/h2>\n

Shen, principal investigator, and Lu, co-investigator, focused on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which Shen refers to as \u201cthe mother of all blood cells, essentially.\u201d HSCs are attractive for stem-cell based therapies since they rapidly expand and form all types of blood cells after\u00a0in vivo\u00a0<\/em>(inside the body) transplantation.<\/p>\n

HSCs are also used for diseases that require new blood and immune cells, like cancers. During cancer treatment, radiation and chemotherapy may destroy blood cells, which are required for a healthy immune system. Essentially, a fresh supply of HSCs can help the cancer patient recover their whole blood system, Lu said.<\/p>\n

However, the current method of giving patients new HSCs via bone marrow transplantation is not ideal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, it\u2019s hard to find a donor match, and it\u2019s also hard to culture HSCs outside of the body,\u201d Shen said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t transplant enough HSCs from donors, the procedure might fail because these cells do suffer loss during the transplant process. But that means that you take a lot of bone marrow from the donor and sometimes that causes clinical problems. The logistics are really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Old Problem, New Approach<\/h3>\n

Shen stresses that an optimal way to harvest HSCs would be through an engineered approach, which could produce a large population of cells. The HSCs could be cryopreserved, or frozen down in vials surrounded by liquid nitrogen, and managed using a database to find a patient\u2019s genetic match. Then, they could be transplanted via injection just like a vial drug.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really excited that we get into an old question from a new approach, which is the engineering approach,\u201d Lu said.<\/p>\n

Lu refers to the fact that HSCs aren\u2019t easily expanded in cell cultures as a \u201clong-standing problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is that HSCs are very hard to store and will lose their identity if you put them in culture for more than a couple of days,\u201d Lu said. \u201cIn vitro<\/em>\u00a0is still not a good method.\u201d<\/p>\n

By \u201closing their identity,\u201d Lu means that the HSCs will lose their ability to do their job\u2014to make more and more blood cells\u2014when outside of the body.<\/p>\n

\u201cHSCs don\u2019t like the\u00a0in-vitro<\/em>\u00a0environment at all,\u201d Shen said. \u201cWe want to find out why they don\u2019t like it and what kind of environment they really like, so we can recapitulate and recreate that kind of environment outside of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shen believes the answer to successful\u00a0ex vivo<\/em>\u00a0growth for HSCs lies in looking at the cells in the context of neighbor cells, called stromal cells. The stromal cells interact with the HSCs, delivering essential signals that are required for maintaining the HSCs\u2019 properties. In addition to signal delivery, stromal cells recruit cells that attach to their surface, creating unique ways that their cell receptors work with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see the details, know the details of how these receptors interact with each other and how these surface bound signals work together with say, soluble factors secreted from stromal cells to the HSCs,\u201d Shen said. \u201cSo, multiple factors combined together, we think that might be the key to successful HSC expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n

To accomplish this, Shen and Lu are engineering different kinds of artificial stromal cells to trick the HSCs into thinking they are still in their natural environment. By mimicking the spatial organization of the receptors on these interlopers, the HSCs will receive signals from the dupes just like they would from real stromal cells.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s very much like they see those artificial cells; it\u2019s almost like seeing a real cell,\u201d Shen said. \u201cThe engineered stromal cells trick the HSCs, so they don\u2019t lose their identity and don\u2019t forget to know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Onward, Scientists<\/h3>\n

The duo will continue this research with the NIH Trailblazer R21 Award, which provides $400,000 in direct costs over the next three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the exciting part for me, as an engineer, is that we\u2019re making something possible that was impossible in the past,\u201d Shen said. \u201cTo help the patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Breanne Grady<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":1960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-1959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-stem-cell"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan stem cells be tricked?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can stem cells be tricked?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Keck School Media Relations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Keck School Media Relations\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2\"},\"headline\":\"Can stem cells be tricked?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\"},\"wordCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Stem Cell\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\",\"name\":\"Can stem cells be tricked?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":447,\"caption\":\"From left, Rong Lu and Keyue Shen (Photo by Cristy Lytal)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can stem cells be tricked?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\",\"alternateName\":\"Keck School of Medicine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/KeckSchool_USC\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/keckschoolusc\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/KeckSchoolUSC\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@keckschoolusc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2\",\"name\":\"Keck School Media Relations\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Keck School Media Relations\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/ksommarketing\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can stem cells be tricked?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can stem cells be tricked?","og_url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","article_published_time":"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":447,"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Keck School Media Relations","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KeckSchool_USC","twitter_site":"@KeckSchool_USC","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/"},"author":{"name":"Keck School Media Relations","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2"},"headline":"Can stem cells be tricked?","datePublished":"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/"},"wordCount":5,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg","keywords":["Stem Cell"],"articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/","name":"Can stem cells be tricked?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg","datePublished":"2017-09-07T19:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-26T16:21:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue.jpg","width":600,"height":447,"caption":"From left, Rong Lu and Keyue Shen (Photo by Cristy Lytal)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/can-stem-cells-be-tricked\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can stem cells be tricked?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Keck School of Medicine of USC","alternateName":"Keck School of Medicine","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Keck School of Medicine of USC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KeckSchool_USC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/keckschoolusc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/KeckSchoolUSC\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@keckschoolusc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2","name":"Keck School Media Relations","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Keck School Media Relations"},"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/ksommarketing\/"}]}},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Keck School Media Relations","author_link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/ksommarketing\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Rong-and-Keyue-300x224.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Stem Cell<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Stem Cell<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 9 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 7, 2017","modified":"Updated on November 26, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 7, 2017 12:00 pm","modified":"Updated on November 26, 2023 8:21 am"},"featured_img_caption":"From left, Rong Lu and Keyue Shen (Photo by Cristy Lytal)","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}