PFC: Center for the Physics of Living Cells

PFC：活细胞物理中心

• 批准号: 0822613
• 负责人: Taekjip Ha
• 金额: $ 750万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0822613&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFC; Center; Physics; Living; Cells

In the Center for the Physics of Living Cells (CPLC) experimentalists, computational physicists, and theorists will jointly attack the extreme technical challenges posed by quantifying processes in living cells with the sensitivity needed to explore how life organizes itself, weaving molecular systems into the fabric of living matter. Specifically, the Center will: (1) push in vitro single molecule techniques to a 10- to 100-fold increase in sensitivity, spatio-temporal resolution, and throughput for concurrent detection of multiple observables; (2) use synthetic nanostructures to manipulate single molecules, enabling measurements of both forces and molecular conformation with sub-microsecond resolution; (3) observe individual events within single cells, enabling time- and space-resolved studies of gene expression and other key cellular processes; and (4) extend computation to biologically relevant timescales, and theory to greater biological realism, enabling the detailed interpretation of the dynamics of biological systems from the molecular to the cellular level. The interaction between theory, computation, in vitro and in vivo experiments will be at the core of the Center's mission. A concrete example combining these four approaches will be to build a truly quantitative and dynamic physical picture of transcription and translation machinery, used by the cell to copy DNA into RNA and then into proteins. The Center will provide exciting educational opportunities on and off campus. For Ph.D. students, the Center will build a community around special seminars, symposia, tailored courses, and joint mentoring, and help generate a new generation of scientists who are fluent in both physics and biology. This new science will be brought to the undergraduate level in the form of courses, online computing and visualization environments, and a single-molecule laboratory course where they can acquire hands-on experience. The Center will recruit minority students into the REU programs and summer workshops through partnership with primarily minority institutions and participation in two annual scientific meetings for under-represented minorities. At the high school level, the Center will expand an existing program in which Ph.D. students can act as mentors for teachers on and off campus, introducing visualization tools and modern molecular biology concepts into the classroom. To address young students directly, the Center will establish a pilot program at a girls middle school. This program will provide contact with students as they begin their formal science education, exposing them to modern biophysical concepts and tools. To the scientific community, the Center will provide visualization and simulation tools to enable the study of macromolecular assemblies and cells. Likewise, the state-of-the-art instrumentation developed by the Center will lead to mainstream applications in biological sciences and is expected to have major commercial impact.This award is jointly funded by the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) and the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) as part of a partnership to foster research and education at the mathematical and physical sciences - life sciences interface. Participating programs in MPS include the Physics Frontiers Centers program, the Experimental Physical Chemistry program, and the Analytical and Surface Chemistry program. Participating program in BIO include the Biomolecular Systems cluster, the Genes and Genomes cluster, and the Neural Systems cluster.

在活细胞物理中心（CPLC），实验学家、计算物理学家和理论家将联合起来，以探索生命如何组织自身、将分子系统编织到生命物质的结构中所需的灵敏度，对活细胞中的过程进行量化，从而应对极端的技术挑战。具体而言，该中心将：(1)推动体外单分子技术在灵敏度、时空分辨率和同时检测多个可观察物的吞吐量方面提高10到100倍；(2)利用合成纳米结构操纵单分子，实现亚微秒分辨率的力和分子构象测量；(3)观察单个细胞内的个体事件，使基因表达和其他关键细胞过程的时间和空间分辨研究成为可能；(4)将计算扩展到生物学相关的时间尺度，并将理论扩展到更大的生物学现实主义，从而能够从分子到细胞水平详细解释生物系统的动力学。理论、计算、体外和体内实验之间的相互作用将是该中心使命的核心。结合这四种方法的一个具体例子将是建立一个真正定量的、动态的转录和翻译机制的物理图像，细胞利用转录和翻译机制将DNA复制成RNA，然后再复制成蛋白质。该中心将在校内和校外提供令人兴奋的教育机会。对于博士生，该中心将围绕特别研讨会、专题讨论会、量身定制的课程和联合指导建立一个社区，并帮助培养精通物理学和生物学的新一代科学家。这门新科学将以课程、在线计算和可视化环境以及单分子实验课程的形式引入本科阶段，学生可以在这些课程中获得实践经验。该中心将通过与主要的少数族裔机构合作，并参加两次为代表性不足的少数族裔举行的年度科学会议，招收少数族裔学生参加REU项目和夏季讲习班。在高中阶段，该中心将扩大现有的一个项目，博士生可以在校园内外担任教师的导师，将可视化工具和现代分子生物学概念引入课堂。为了直接解决年轻学生的问题，中心将在一所女子中学建立试点项目。这个项目将为学生提供接触，因为他们开始正式的科学教育，使他们接触到现代生物物理学的概念和工具。对于科学界，该中心将提供可视化和模拟工具，使大分子组装和细胞的研究成为可能。同样，该中心开发的最先进的仪器将导致生物科学的主流应用，并有望产生重大的商业影响。该奖项由数学和物理科学理事会（MPS）和生物科学理事会（BIO）共同资助，作为促进数学和物理科学-生命科学界面研究和教育的伙伴关系的一部分。MPS参与的项目包括物理前沿中心项目、实验物理化学项目和分析与表面化学项目。参与BIO的项目包括生物分子系统集群、基因与基因组集群和神经系统集群。