INSPIRE Track 1: Condensed Phases and Transitions of Cellular Patterns

本INSPIRE奖部分由生物科学理事会分子和细胞生物学部门的细胞动力学和功能集群以及工程理事会土木、机械和制造创新部门的生物力学和机械生物学项目资助。智力价值：该项目的科学目标是发现控制细胞内蛋白质和细胞器组织的普遍物理定律。来自物理世界的物质（如水、金属）以反映最低能量或平衡状态的相（如固体、液体、气体）存在。相比之下，生物物质中包含的成分使它们远离平衡状态，而控制这些物质的规则尚不清楚。与可以是固体、液体或气体的水不同，生物物质在纳米级马达（蛋白质酶）的作用下是活跃的，它利用能量来推动和拉动组成部分，在这种情况下，构成细胞骨架的纤维（肌动蛋白和微管细丝）。像典型的平衡相一样，这种超级活跃的生物系统的组织取决于浓度、压力和体积，研究人员将在他们的实验中有条不紊地进行调整。研究人员将在受控实验系统中使用纯化的生物蛋白揭示生物物质的“相图”（描述形状、活性或状态的图）。这项研究对于发现细胞如何快速重组其内部结构以应对外部环境，进行细胞分裂或分化成新的细胞类型具有重要意义。该项目还将为使用能量的系统的物理描述提供新的思路，这对现代物理学来说仍然是一个开放的、不断发展的挑战。它在生命科学和物理科学中都有广泛的积极的发现可能性。更广泛的影响：科学建立在规律的基础上，科学家通过实验、发现、分析和理解结果来揭示这些规律。研究结果通常是有益于人类（社会）和我们生活的自然世界的结论。该研究项目旨在揭示和建立细胞的基本运作规律，细胞是植物、动物和人类组织的基础。了解细胞如何发育和组织的主要基础可以对农业、能源和技术产生广泛的影响。这项研究为国家带来的积极可能性是无穷无尽的，但也是可以衡量的。从事这项工作的研究人员是两位合格的物理学女性，她们在物理教育和指导高中、大学、研究生、博士后以及K-12教师和大学教授的专业教育中发挥了积极作用。研究人员通过讲座和在实验室接待学生来训练这些群体。作为两名女性，这两位研究人员是科学界女性和少数族裔的榜样。此外，研究人员努力通过公开讲座、观点文章、社交媒体网络将科学带给公众。

AbstractThis INSPIRE award is partially funded by the Cellular Dynamics and Function cluster in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, and the Biomechanics and Mechanobiology Program in the Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation in the Directorate for Engineering.Intellectual Merit: The scientific goal of this project is to discover the universal physical laws governing the organization of proteins and organelles inside of cells. Materials from the physical world (e.g. water, metal) exist in phases (e.g. solid, liquid, gas) that reflect the lowest energy, or equilibrium state. By contrast, biological matter contains components that drive them far from equilibrium and the rules governing such materials are not understood. Unlike water that can be solid, liquid, or gas, biological matter is active with nanoscale motors (protein enzymes) that use an energy source to push and pull the components, in this case the fibers that form the skeleton of the cell (actin and microtubule filaments). Like typical equilibrium phases, the organization of such super active biological systems depend on the concentration, pressure, and volume that the researchers will methodically adjust in their experiments. The researchers will uncover the "phase diagram" (a diagram describing the shape, activity, or state) of biological matter using purified biological proteins in controlled experimental systems. The research is important to discover how the cell rapidly reorganizes its interior body to respond to its exterior environment, go through cell division, or differentiate into a new cell type. The project will also shed new light on the physics descriptions of systems that use energy, which is still an open, ever evolving challenge for modern physics. It has broad positive possibilities for discovery in both life science and the physical sciences.Broader Impacts: Science is based on laws and scientists uncover these laws based on experiments, discovery, analysis, and understanding results. The results are typically conclusions that benefit humanity (society) and the natural world we live in. The research project seeks to uncover and establish the laws for the fundamental workings of cells, which form the basis of tissues in plants, animals, and humans. Understanding the primary basis of how cells develop and organize can have broad implications for agriculture, energy, and technology. The positive national possibilities of this research are endless yet measurable. The researchers performing this work are two qualified women in physics who take an active role in physics education and mentoring of students from high school, college, graduate, postdoctoral, and professional education for K-12 teachers and college professors. The researchers train these groups through lectures and hosting students in their laboratories. As two women, the researchers are role models for women and minorities in the sciences. Further, the researchers endeavor to bring science to the public through public lectures, Op-Ed articles, social media networks.