I-Corps: Commercialization of A High Throughput Cell Mechanical Stimulator

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Cell based assays have been widely used for drug discovery, where the effectiveness and toxicity of drugs on live cells in presence of various external stimulations are examined. Lab-on-chip technologies with high throughput capability have greatly propelled the development of cell based assays by significantly reducing the time and cost of applying these stimulations and obtaining the cell responses. Current technologies that stimulate live cells by mechanical signals, however, have relatively low throughput. This project is to explore the commercialization potential of a high throughput cell mechanical stimulator, which applies controlled strain to a large number of in vitro cultured cell groups. The proposed technology provides an important research tool for biological researchers in the field of cellular biomechanics and mechanobiology. The high throughput and multiplex capability enabled by the proposed technology meets the imperative needs for parallel application of mechanical stimulation to live cells. Understanding how mechanical signals regulate cell function and how they orchestrate with drugs and medications is therefore a fundamental question that attracts extraordinary attentions of a large number of researchers in universities and pharmaceutical industry. The proposed device is expected to provide a powerful research tool to enhance our understanding of the role of mechanical signals and their synergistic effects with drugs/medications. It is expected to hasten new knowledge in mechanobiology and new treatments against diseases in many fields. It will also allow high throughput screening of drugs and medications that target on treatments of mechanical-activated cells and tissues. The greatly enhanced throughput and lower per-test cost are also expected to expand the market from basic research laboratories at universities to pre-clinical and applied research divisions in pharmaceutical industry.