Active Adaptive Materials Design Inspired by Cell Mechanics

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Non-technical SummaryThe ability to control shape and motion is a key feature of life, from soft jellyfish navigating small crevices to our own development and the ability of many of our tissues to regenerate and heal after being damaged. These capabilities of whole tissue and animals are encoded at the scale of individual cells in our body, at scales similar to that of a width of a human hair. Within each cell, biological materials construct the machines and materials that enable individual cells to crawl, change in response to cues and build multi-cellular tissue. Many of the biological molecules are molecular motors that convert chemical energy into mechanical work, just like a car converts gasoline to motion. Other molecules respond to these forces to control material assembly and rigidity. In this proposal, the investigators will use molecular engineering to create synthetic molecules with the goal to discover the properties of materials found within cells, especially those that allow them to change over time. This work will enable new classes of materials that can recapitulate behaviors of living cells, including directed motion and division. This interdisciplinary materials science research will develop tools and knowledge that will also impact fields of condensed matter physics, biochemistry and cell biology. The project will also continue efforts to improve the diversity of STEM trainees. Technical SummaryA frontier in materials science is to construct autonomous, force-sensitive materials that allow for the same types of complicated mechanochemical machines that enable living organism locomotion, growth and division. Such materials harness enzymatic activities of biomolecules to enable force-generation (actuation) and mechanical response that is spatiotemporally regulated. The scientific goal of this proposal is to elucidate design principles of soft biopolymer materials whose actuation and shape are reprogrammable. The shape and locomotion of living cells is controlled by the actin cytoskeleton, composite biopolymer networks that generate variable forces and whose viscoelasticity is dynamically regulated. This work will reconstitute these materials in vitro, developing both molecular engineering approaches to optimize molecular control and methodologies to control and study their rheological response. With these novel tools, the PIs will focus on three objectives: (1) To demonstrate control over training rules in active materials, (2) To realize a material with feedback between actuation and material response, (3) To generate programmable morphogenetic materials. The findings will enable soft materials with new functionalities in sensing, actuation and shapeshifting which can be broadly applied, including for the realization of micrometer-scale soft robotics, sensors and materials. While the research is focused on fundamental materials science, it will have potential for advancing the understanding of mechanical regulation of physiological processes in living cells. This interdisciplinary materials science research will develop tools and knowledge that will also impact fields of condensed matter physics, biochemistry and cell biology. The project will also continue efforts to improve the diversity of STEM trainees.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.