Seeing is believing: Submicroscopic visualization of semiflexible polymer networks and extraction of structural and mechanical parameters

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Non-technical: Biological fibers are multifunctional materials that form a variety of structures with unique properties that have been an inspiration for material scientists for some time. Fibers that make up the cell's cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix transmit signals between cells as well as determine the fate of cells. This strong dependence of cell response on the mechanical properties and structure of the environment opens new opportunities to control cell growth and tissue formation by well-designed biocompatible and biodegradable materials. The research that will be carried out will increase our intuitive understanding of the submicroscopic changes that take place in these materials in response to local or global forces. As a result, we expect our research to facilitate the creation of novel materials for the three-dimensional control of cell growth, for example for the creation of artificial tissue, and for drug delivery. The three-dimensional super resolution images acquired in the process of this project will be used for educating students as well as the public about this important class of materials. Teachers as well as K-12 students will have direct access to the research through visits, summer research and presentations at their schools. The project will enhance the infrastructure for research and education through international collaborations.Technical: Cytoskeletal and extracellular filaments belong to the large class of semiflexible polymers whose elastic response arises from entropic and enthalpic elastic contributions. On a macroscopic scale, networks of semiflexible biopolymers show a unique, nonlinear elastic response (strain- stiffening). The microscopic origin of this nonlinear response remains in many cases unclear because of a lack of submicroscopic data that can be linked to the macroscopic scale such as local network architecture, cross-linker elasticity or the distribution of tension in the network. The goal of this project is to visualize the submicroscopic network architecture, its response to global and local forces and the resulting force distribution in the network. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in an interdisciplinary environment on a state-of-the-art three-dimensional scanning probe microscope developed by the PI's group.