CAREER: Engineering Artificial Cells

PI的目标是建立一个生物医学工程研究和培训计划，致力于开发新型人造细胞作为药物/蛋白质/基因输送系统。他假设，将天然形成的细胞骨架聚合物与自然产生的调节细胞骨架断裂和脂质体内的交联蛋白一起包裹起来，将会诱导人造细胞的形成。使用这些调节蛋白将使我能够设计细胞骨架聚合物的长度和交联物密度。因此，这将影响三维细胞骨架网络的结构和机械属性。由此形成的被包裹的细胞骨架网络结构将使囊泡双层具有机械稳定性，使其机械稳定性。这些机械强化的混合囊泡将具有独特的能力，通过重新排列它们的细胞骨架网络来动态响应外部产生的剪切力。从本质上讲，如果超过屈服压力，这些小泡就会自我修复。他目标的教育部分是用这个奖项培养未被充分代表的非裔美国本科生。学生将有能力参与所提议的研究活动的各个方面。目前，生物医学科学领域中存在着少数人短缺的问题。这项提议将有助于扭转这一赤字。

PI's objectives are to establish a biomedical engineering research and training programdedicated towards the development of novel artificial cells as drug/protein/gene delivery systems. He hypothesizes that encapsulation of naturally occurring cytoskeletal polymers along with naturally occurring regulatory cytoskeletal severing and cross-linking proteins inside liposomes will induce the formation of an artificial cell. Use of these regulatory proteins will allow me to engineer cytoskeletal polymer length, andcrosslink density. This will consequently influence the three dimensional cytoskeletal network's structure, and mechanical attributes. The resulting encapsulated cytoskeletal network's structure will impart its mechanical stability to the vesicle bilayer making it mechanically stable. These mechanically strengthened hybrid vesicles will have the unique ability to dynamically respond to externally generated shear forces through rearrangement of their cytoskeletal network. In essence these vesicles will self-heal themselves if sheared past their yield strain. The educational component of his goals is to train underrepresented African-American Undergraduate students with this award. Students will have the ability to participate in all aspects of the proposed research activities. Currently, there exists a shortage of minorities in the biomedical sciences. This proposal will help reverse this deficit.