CAREER: Imaging multi-scale viscoelastic properties of cancer-associated remodeling

#1351474 P.I.：艾米l Oldenburg PI建议构建一种新型的集成系统，该系统将光学相干断层扫描（OCT），一种用于可视化厚组织中细胞横截面的方法，与在线数字全息术一起快速成像组织表面附近的平面运动。OCT组件将监测来自扩散金纳米棒的光散射波动，金纳米棒充当纳米拓扑环境的探针。全息组件将捕获诱导的表面弹性波，其将被重建成高分辨率的组织弹性图。这些成像系统的集成，使coregistration的驱动和扩散运动在多个长度尺度，以相关的亚细胞结构与散装粘弹性。建议的集成系统将被用来研究早期乳腺癌组织培养模型，其中正常和癌前乳腺上皮细胞（MEC）与基质成纤维细胞共培养。 测量微尺度细胞外基质硬度结合纳米流变学测量和周围MEC和基质细胞将提供新的见解，导致乳腺癌的生物物理过程。

#1351474P.I.: Amy L. OldenburgThe PI proposes to construct a novel integrated system that incorporates optical coherence tomography (OCT), a method for visualizing cross-sections of cells in thick tissues, with in-line digital holography to rapidly image in-plane motions near the tissue surface. The OCT component will monitor light scattering fluctuations from diffusing gold nanorods which act as probes of the nanotopological environment. The holography component will capture induced surface elastic waves, which will be reconstructed into high resolution tissue elastograms. Integration of these imaging systems enables coregistration of driven and diffusive motions at multiple length scales in order to relate subcellular architecture with bulk viscoelastic properties. The proposed integrated system will be employed to study an early-stage breast cancer tissue culture model in which normal and pre-malignant mammary epithelial cells (MECs) are co-cultured with stromal fibroblasts. Measuring the microscale extracellular matrix stiffness in conjunction with nanorheological measurements in and around MECs and stromal cells will provide new insight into the biophysical processes that lead to breast cancer.