BioMEMS based micro instrumentation for in-situ quantitative investigations of adhesion, structural mechanics and mechanotransduction of single living cells and Embryos

越来越多的实验证据表明，细胞外和细胞内的机械力对细胞的广泛行为有深远的影响。它们包括生长、分化、凋亡。基因表达、黏附和信号转导。因此，重要的是要了解机械力是如何传递到细胞内的，它们引发了哪些相应的分子变化，以及细胞是如何表现出这些变化的。尽管在理解这些问题方面已经取得了进展，但一个重大的挑战仍然存在--在细胞和亚细胞水平上对细胞力反应的定量评估。在工程界，机械部件的小型化正在掀起一场革命，产生了微电子机械系统(MEMS)领域。我们(UIUC和哈佛医学院)利用生物MEMS传感器进行的初步实验表明，可以对单细胞和胚胎施加局部机械变形，并且可以定量测量它们的力响应。这些实验证明了一类新的微型仪器的潜力，这可能会导致在细胞力学、机械转导、组织工程、药物发现和癌症研究方面的理解取得根本性突破。哈佛医学院的唐纳德·英格伯教授将担任这个项目的顾问。这个项目是高度跨学科的。它融合了微系统工程和细胞生物学。这些工程专业的学生将在细胞培养、细胞操作、使用花序技术的细胞骨架结构的先进成像以及微制造和微机械方面获得丰富的经验。该项目有趣的实验结果将展示给机械工程和生物专业的本科生。生物微机械实验的视频也将展示给UIUC校园的大学高中-这是由NSF通过REU计划支持的P1当前项目。

There is increasing experimental evidence suggesting that extracellular and intracellular mechanical forces have a profound influence on a wide range of cell behavior. They include growth, differentiation, apoptosis. gene expression, adhesion and signal transduction. Thus it is important to understand how the mechanical forces are transmitted into the cell and what corresponding molecular changes do they initiate, and how do cells exhibit such changes. Although advances have been made towards understanding such questions, a significant challenge remains- quantitative evaluation of cell force response at a cellular and subcellular level. In the engineering world, a revolution is underway through miniaturization of mechanical components, giving rise to the field of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). Our (UIUC and Harvard Medical School) preliminary experiments with bio-MEMS sensors show that local mechanical deformation can be applied on single cells and embryos, and their force response can be measured quantitatively. The experiments have demonstrated the potential of a new class of microinstruments that may lead to fundamental breakthroughs in the understanding of cellular mechanics, mechanotransduction, tissue engineering, drug discovery and cancer research. Professor Donald Ingber of Harvard Medical school will serve as the consultant to this project.The project is highly multidisciplinary. It merges micro systems' engineering with cellular biology. The engineering students will gain extensive experience with cell culture, cell manipulation, advanced imaging of cytoskeletal structures using florescenece techniques, as well as micro fabrication and micro mechanics. Interesting experimental results from the project will be presented to undergraduate students in mechanical engineering and biology. Videos of experiments with Bio-MEMS will also be presented to the University High School on UIUC campus - a current project of the P1 supported by NSF through REU program.