CAREER: Biologically Inspired Platforms: Finding The Tricks Worth Mimicking In The Extracellular Matrix

非技术部门这个职业奖由材料研究部的生物材料项目支持，旨在研究细胞外基质(ECM)的结构和机械性能。细胞外基质(ECM)是细胞用来与环境沟通的多蛋白质网络。该学院早期职业发展(CALEAR)项目的研究目标是(I)从蛋白质(纳米)到细胞(微观)水平描述ECM的结构和力学特征，以及(Ii)利用这些基本了解来设计细胞培养平台，以研究功能和病理(癌症)环境中的血管形成机制。鉴于这项研究的广泛跨学科性质，本课程的主要教育目标是向学生(K-12、本科生和研究生)和教师(GK-12课程)介绍材料和生物材料科学、生物力学、蛋白质物理和细胞生物学领域(以及所使用的工具)。PI还将为未来的生物材料科学和/或工程工作培训本科生和研究生，方法是(I)指导学生从一年级到研究生的研究水平，以及(Ii)将研究整合到她在康奈尔大学七个系教授的三门本科生和研究生水平的跨学科课程中。技术部分活细胞通过相邻细胞和周围细胞外基质(ECM)纤维网络确定的化学和物理相互作用来感知和响应它们的微环境。这个学院早期职业发展(CALEAR)项目的主要目标是研究ECM结构的两个主要组成部分(纤维连接蛋白和胶原)从纤维到细胞/组织水平的结构和机械性能。这一计划的优势在于结合了PI在(I)荧光共振能量转移(FRET)构象映射和(Ii)生物材料在纳米和微观尺度上的机械表征方面所展示的专业知识的跨学科方法。通过结合这些努力，PI将对ECM的组成、构象和力学的调控机制产生基本的了解，从而能够设计具有受控的机械生物学特性的2D和3D细胞培养平台，以研究生理和病理(癌症)环境中的血管形成机制。该项目不仅对生物材料科学有影响，而且对再生医学和组织工程也有影响，因为细胞外基质在发育和癌症等疾病中的基础作用；它的能力也将是重要的，不仅促进细胞-基质相互作用研究的新方法，而且使K-12、本科生和研究生接触到广泛的技术创新。

Non-Technical SectionThis CAREER Award supported by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research seeks to study the structural and mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a multi-protein network used by cells to communicate with their environment. The research objectives of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project are (i) to characterize both structure and mechanics of the ECM from the protein (nanoscopic) to the cell (microscopic) level, and (ii) to exploit such fundamental understanding to engineer cell culture platforms for investigating vascularization mechanisms in functional and pathological (cancer) environments. Given the extensive interdisciplinary nature of this research, the primary educational goals of this program are to introduce students (K-12, undergraduate, and graduate) and teachers (GK-12 program) to the fields of (and the tools used in) materials and biomaterials science, biomechanics, protein physics, and cell biology. The PI will also train undergraduate and graduate students for future jobs in biomaterials science and/or engineering through (i) mentoring students from freshman to graduate level in research and (ii) integrating research into her three undergraduate and graduate level interdisciplinary courses taught across seven departments at Cornell.Technical SectionLiving cells sense and respond to their microenvironment through chemical and physical interactions determined by the adjacent cells and by the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) fibrillar network. The main goal of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project is to study both structural and mechanical properties of the two major building blocks of ECM structures (fibronectin and collagen) from the fiber to the cellular/tissue level. The strength of this program lies in the interdisciplinary approach that combines the PI's demonstrated expertise in (i) FRET (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer) conformational mapping, and (ii) mechanical characterization of biomaterials at the nano-, and the microscopic scales. By combining these efforts, the PI will generate a fundamental understanding of the regulatory mechanisms governing ECM composition, conformation and mechanics, which will then enable the design of 2D and 3D cell culture platforms with controlled mechanobiological properties for investigating vascularization mechanisms in physiological and pathological (cancer) environments. This project has implications not only in biomaterials science but also in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering due to the fundamental role of the ECM in development and diseases such as cancer; it will also be of importance in its capacity not only to promote new approaches in cell-matrix interactions research, but also to expose K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students to a wide range of technological innovations.