Collaborative Research: Sharing the Strain - Synthetic Liquid Crystals as Soft Biomaterials

第1部分：非技术性总结这个研究项目推进了基础材料研究，它受到生物的启发，涉及生物材料，并解决了旨在与生物系统接触的合成材料的应用。这项工作的动机是观察到活的材料(细胞和组织)是软的和动态的，并通过耦合形状、内部组织和机械应变提供一系列有用的功能。具体地说，该项目旨在推进新的合成材料的设计，这种材料可以动态调节它们与活细胞的机械相互作用(作为一种合成外骨骼)，从而提供新的方法来指导活细胞的行为，或者报告细胞机械性能的变化。最初的工作是创建可重新配置的软材料与红细胞的界面，重点是阐明软合成材料和生物材料之间的复杂和非线性机械相互作用。这种方法融合了生物学、物理学、化学和数学的观点。从长远来看，这项工作有可能导致创造新的材料类别，可以用来快速筛选与细胞硬度增加相关的细胞疾病状态。该项目还将提供极好的机会教育下一代STEM学生和研究人员，包括Ho-Chunk民族的美国原住民青年和服务不足社区的其他儿童和父母。第2部分：技术总结本项目探索基于色调液晶的各向异性和可重构生物材料与哺乳动物细胞的相互作用。这项研究将探索将铬基液晶用作原始的合成外骨骼材料，重点是了解水合作用、渗透压和与红细胞的机械相互作用的相互作用。这些基本的见解将为解释分散在显色液晶中的单个红细胞的形状响应的测量提供信息，为这些新型生物材料如何与红细胞分享应变提供新的见解。我们将检验这一假设，即单个红细胞在机械性能上不同，并在液晶中表现出不同的形状响应。解决这些具有挑战性的问题的总体方法依赖于实验和建模的紧密结合。使用液晶作为生物材料来分离活细胞，如红细胞，有可能提供新的方法来快速识别群体中单个细胞机械性能的细胞间差异。在这个项目中开发的数值方法将广泛用于研究在各种材料相关学科中遇到的复杂的流体-物体相互作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

PART 1: NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis research project advances fundamental materials research that is bioinspired, involves biological materials, and addresses synthetic materials intended for application in contact with biological systems. The work is motivated by the observation that living materials (cells and tissues) are soft and dynamic, and provide a range of useful functions by coupling shape, internal organization and mechanical strain. Specifically, the project seeks to advance the design of new synthetic materials that dynamically regulate their mechanical interactions with living cells (as a type of synthetic exoskeleton), thus providing new ways to instruct the behaviors of living cells or, alternatively, report on changes in the mechanical properties of cells. The initial effort is directed at the creation of reconfigurable, soft material interfaces with red blood cells, with a focus on elucidation of the complex and non-linear mechanical interactions of soft synthetic and biological materials. The approach involves a convergence of perspectives from biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. In the long term, the work has the potential to lead to the creation of new classes of materials that can be used to rapidly screen for those diseased states of cells which are associated with increased cell stiffness. The project will also provide outstanding opportunities to educate the next generation of STEM students and researchers, including Native American youth in the Ho-Chunk Nation and other children and parents in underserved communities.PART 2: TECHNICAL SUMMARYThis project explores the interactions of anisotropic and reconfigurable biomaterials based on chromonic liquid crystals with mammalian cells. The research will investigate the use of chromonic liquid crystals as primitive, synthetic exoskeletal materials, with a focus on understanding the interplay of hydration, osmotic pressure and mechanical interactions with red blood cells. These fundamental insights will inform the interpretation of measurements of the shape-response of single red blood cells dispersed in chromonic liquid crystals, providing new insights into how these novel biomaterials share strain with red blood cells. We will test the hypothesis that individual red blood cells differ in mechanical properties and exhibit distinct shape-responses in the liquid crystals. The overall approach to these challenging questions relies on close integration of experiment and modeling. The use of liquid crystals as biomaterials to strain living cells such as red blood cells has the potential to provide new ways to rapidly identify cell-to-cell variation in the mechanical properties of single cells in a population. The numerical methods developed in this project will be broadly useful for studying complex fluid-body interactions encountered in a variety of materials-related disciplines.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.