INSPIRE Track 1: Condensed Phases and Transitions of Cellular Patterns

摘要INSPIRE奖部分由生物科学理事会分子和细胞生物学部的细胞动力学和功能组以及工程理事会土木、机械和制造创新部的生物力学和机械生物学项目资助。智力优势：该项目的科学目标是发现管理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（例如水、金属）以反映最低能量或平衡状态的相（例如固体、液体、气体）存在。 相比之下，生物物质包含使它们远离平衡的成分，并且管理这些材料的规则还不清楚。 与可以是固体、液体或气体的水不同，生物物质是通过纳米级马达（蛋白质酶）激活的，这些马达使用能量源来推拉组件，在这种情况下，形成细胞骨架的纤维（肌动蛋白和微管丝）。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研究人员在实验中有条不紊地调整的浓度，压力和体积。研究人员将在受控实验系统中使用纯化的生物蛋白质揭示生物物质的“相图”（描述形状，活动或状态的图表）。这项研究对于发现细胞如何快速重组其内部身体以应对外部环境，通过细胞分裂或分化成新的细胞类型非常重要。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。它对生命科学和物理科学的发现具有广泛的积极可能性。更广泛的影响：科学是以规律为基础的，科学家们通过实验、发现、分析和理解结果来揭示这些规律。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基本运作的规律，这些细胞构成了植物，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。这项研究对国家的积极影响是无穷无尽的，但也是可以衡量的。执行这项工作的研究人员是两名合格的物理学女性，她们在物理学教育和指导高中，大学，研究生，博士后学生以及K-12教师和大学教授的专业教育方面发挥着积极作用。研究人员通过讲座和在他们的实验室接待学生来培训这些群体。作为两名女性，研究人员是科学界女性和少数民族的榜样。此外，研究人员奋进通过公开讲座，专栏文章，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.