Ciliary Mechanics

该奖项的研究目标是了解纤毛，这是生物学最令人着迷的机器之一。纤毛在整个生物世界中发挥着各种各样的功能，从营养收集和传感到器官发育和液体推进。使它们工作的设计原则--从它们的体系结构到产生其复杂拍子形状的产生力量的分子阵列--是生物学和生物医学中重要问题的核心，也为无数仿生技术提供了一个模板。这个项目的目标是根据先进的纳米操纵实验开发一个纤毛如何工作的计算模型，以评估纤毛的力学和力的产生。一个完整的纤毛模型是必要的，以提供对使复杂的生物机器在自然界中工作的潜在机制的更深层次的看法。准确的纤毛模型还将为肺和脑中与纤毛功能相关的生物医学问题提供宝贵的见解，以及在微流体系统等技术背景下，在这些系统中，仿生纤毛阵列可以在纳米和微尺度上对流体泵送和传感提供前所未有的控制。纤毛是生物世界的主要奇迹之一，这推动了研究人员的推广工作，其中将包括建立一个规模纤毛模型，以及在线分发的动态纤毛运动动画。他们还将开发互动软件，通过调节纤毛或流体粘度的机械属性来探索动态纤毛模型。这些活动将通过调查人员与区域科学博物馆和北卡罗来纳州科学节的广泛合作来促进。

The research objective of this award is to understand the cilium, one of biology's most fascinating machines. The cilium performs a diverse range of functions throughout the biological world from nutrient gathering and sensing to organ development and fluid propulsion. The design principles that make them work - from their architecture to the force generating molecular arrays that produce their complex beat shapes- are central to important questions in biology and biomedicine, and also provide a template for myriad biomimetic technologies. The goal of this project is to develop a computational model of how the cilium works as informed by advanced nanomanipulation experiments to assess the cilium mechanics and force generation. A complete model of the cilium is necessary to provide a deeper view of the underlying mechanisms that make complex biological machines work throughout nature. An accurate ciliary model will also provide invaluable insights into biomedical questions related to ciliary function in the lung and the brain, as well is in technological contexts such as microfluidics systems where biomimetic cilia arrays could provide unprecedented control over fluid pumping and sensing at the nano and micro scales. That cilia are one of the principle wonders of the biological world drives the researcher's outreach efforts that will include the building of a scale cilium model and an accompanying animation of dynamic ciliary motion to be distributed online. They will also develop interactive software in which a dynamical ciliary model can be explored by tuning the mechanical properties of cilium or fluid viscosity. These activities will be promoted through the investigators extensive collaborations with regional science museums and the North Carolina Science Festival.