Thermo mechanical studies of cells with nano probes on a Si substrate

本提案的目标是开发一种新型硅衬底和3D力传感器，以研究单个粘附位点尺度上单个细胞的热机械行为。细胞研究包括：(a)单个粘附位点的大小和强度；(b)遗址形成过程中的热活动；(c)由于在这些部位施加热刺激，细胞间和细胞内的反应。该方法是在硅衬底上形成图案或自组装的金纳米电极（线）。电线将涂上一层细胞粘合剂。其余的基材，在导线之间，将被一种不粘的细胞涂层。因此，在这种基质上培养的细胞将在金丝上形成离散的粘附位点，从而实现上述研究。这个项目在医学和物理科学领域都有广泛的影响。活细胞相互附着形成组织和器官。细胞粘附在多种细胞功能（如生长和细胞分裂）以及疾病进展（如血管生成）中起着重要作用。直到今天，关于粘附位点之间的合作安排和协同相互作用，它们的簇大小、形状、特征长度尺度和动力学的重要性，我们还知之甚少。该项目将解决一些尚未解决的细胞粘附问题，并为细胞力学与疾病进展之间的关系提供基本见解。此外，还将制作一个三集的视频系列，向学生宣传科学和生物纳米技术。

The objective of this proposal is to develop a novel Si substrate and a 3D force sensor to investigate thermo-mechanical behavior of single cells at the scale of a single adhesion site. The cellular investigations include: (a) size and strength of single adhesion sites; (b) thermal activities during formation of the sites; (c) inter and intra-cellular response of cells due to thermal stimuli applied at the sites. The approach is to form patterned or self assembled gold nano electrodes (wires) on a Si substrate. The wires will be coated by a cell adhesive. The rest of the substrate, between the wires, will be coated by a cell non-adhesive. Thus, cells cultured on this substrate will form discrete adhesion sites on gold wires, allowing the above studies. The project has a broad impact both on the fields of medicine and physical science. Living cells adhere to one another to form tissues and organs. Cell adhesion plays a fundamental role on a variety of cell functionality, such as growth and cell division, as well as on disease progression such as angiogenesis. Until today there is very little knowledge on the cooperative arrangements and synergistic interactions between adhesion sites, significance of their cluster size, shape, their characteristic length scales, and their dynamics. This project will address some of the yet unanswered questions on cell adhesion and provide fundamental insight on the relation between cell mechanics and disease progression. Furthermore, a video series will be developed with three episodes for the promotion of science and bio-nano-technology among school students.