Adhesion and Self-Assembly of Flexible Nanofilaments on Biological Membranes

柔性纳米丝在生物膜上的粘附和自组装

• 批准号: 2327899
• 负责人: Samaneh Farokhirad
• 金额: $ 45.11万
• 依托单位: New Jersey Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-15 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2327899&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Adhesion; Self; Assembly; Flexible; Nanofilaments

Flexible nanofilaments are essential components in synthetic materials, biological cells, and viruses such as Ebola. The goal of this award is to understand the interactions between flexible nanofilaments and biological cells using a combination of theory and simulations. The project will investigate the mechanisms by which flexible nanofilaments adhere to human and animal cells and subsequently induce their deformation, a process that can lead to the organization of these nanofilaments and shape transformation of the membrane. Biological membranes can be polarized not just by an external electric field, but also by bending deformations alone. Such deformations can generate local electric fields, potentially influencing the adhesion and self-assembly of nanofilaments. The research outcomes will advance foundational understanding and provide guidance for applications in nano-biotechnologies, virology, and therapeutics. The findings may facilitate the rational design for effective drug delivery and novel strategies to interfere with the attachment and subsequent self-assembly of viruses. The interdisciplinary nature of the research will enhance engineering education and outreach activities at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The educational programs will provide graduate student training, as well as research experience and educational modules for high school and undergraduate students, emphasizing underrepresented groups.This award will investigate the interaction of flexible nanofilaments with cell membranes, establishing a first ever mechanistic link between nanofilament flexibility and shape, membrane mechanics and electromechanics, nanofilament crowding, and the resulting configuration and self-assembly of nanofilaments. Specific objectives include (1) examining how the shape and mechanics of nanofilaments influence their interaction with membranes; (2) understanding how the mechanics and electromechanics of cell membranes modulate these interactions; and (3) characterizing emergent behaviors of nanofilaments under increasing their density. The study will leverage a recently developed multiscale modeling platform that couples a coarse-grained molecular-scale model for nanofilaments with a continuum mechanics model for cell membranes using hybrid Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation methods. These computational models will be complemented by a theoretical approach, integrating continuum mechanics, electrostatics, and statistical physics of membranes and nanofilaments to characterize the entropic features of adhesion and self-assembly of nanofilaments on biological membrane. This contemporary multiscale platform would be extendable to other biomechanical problems, including endocytosis of nanoparticles, cell packaging and budding of viruses, and electroporation.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.

柔性纳米丝是合成材料、生物细胞和埃博拉病毒等的重要组成部分。该奖项的目标是使用理论和模拟相结合的方法来理解柔性纳米丝和生物细胞之间的相互作用。该项目将研究柔性纳米丝粘附于人类和动物细胞并随后诱导其变形的机制，这一过程可以导致这些纳米丝的组织和膜的形状转变。生物膜不仅可以通过外部电场极化，还可以通过单独的弯曲变形极化。这种变形可以产生局部电场，潜在地影响纳米丝的粘附和自组装。研究成果将推进基础理解，并为纳米生物技术，病毒学和治疗学的应用提供指导。这些发现可能有助于合理设计有效的药物输送和新的策略来干扰病毒的附着和随后的自组装。该研究的跨学科性质将加强新泽西理工学院的工程教育和推广活动。教育计划将提供研究生培训，以及高中和本科生的研究经验和教育模块，强调代表性不足的群体。该奖项将研究柔性纳米丝与细胞膜的相互作用，建立纳米丝柔性和形状，膜力学和机电学，纳米丝拥挤，以及所得到的纳米丝的构型和自组装。具体目标包括：（1）研究纳米丝的形状和力学如何影响它们与膜的相互作用;（2）了解细胞膜的力学和机电学如何调节这些相互作用;（3）表征纳米丝在增加密度下的涌现行为。该研究将利用最近开发的多尺度建模平台，该平台使用混合蒙特卡罗和分子动力学模拟方法将纳米丝的粗粒度分子尺度模型与细胞膜的连续介质力学模型相结合。这些计算模型将补充一个理论方法，集成连续介质力学，静电学，和统计物理的膜和纳米丝的表征生物膜上的粘附和自组装的纳米丝的熵功能。这一当代多尺度平台将可扩展到其他生物力学问题，包括纳米颗粒的内吞作用、细胞包装和病毒出芽以及电穿孔。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。