Ciliary Mechanics

这个奖项的研究目标是了解纤毛，生物学中最迷人的机器之一。纤毛在整个生物世界中发挥着多种功能，从营养收集和感知到器官发育和流体推进。使它们起作用的设计原则——从它们的结构到产生复杂节拍形状的分子阵列的力——是生物学和生物医学中重要问题的核心，也为无数的仿生技术提供了模板。该项目的目标是通过先进的纳米操作实验来开发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，以提供一个更深层次的潜在机制，使复杂的生物机器在整个自然界中工作。一个精确的纤毛模型也将为与肺和大脑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，仿生纤毛阵列可以在纳米和微尺度上提供前所未有的流体泵送和传感控制。纤毛是生物界的主要奇迹之一，这推动了研究人员的推广工作，包括建立一个纤毛模型，并在网上发布一个动态纤毛运动的动画。他们还将开发交互式软件，其中可以通过调整纤毛的机械特性或流体粘度来探索动态纤毛模型。这些活动将通过研究人员与地区科学博物馆和北卡罗莱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.