A bioengineering platform for the multiparametric and quantitative control of the cell environment across scales

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Cells can generate forces. By pulling on their surrounding, the cells can sense how stiff or soft their environment is. Cells are also receptive to chemical signals. Both chemical and mechanical signals influence cell function, whether it divides, if it should move in any given direction or if it should differentiate. Understanding this process is fundamental if we want to understand how the cells build tissues and organs.How chemical and mechanical signals are integrated by the cells is unclear. One of the reasons for this is that decoupling the two experimentally is very challenging. In the body, these cues are largely intertwined and the cell environment is very complex. In this proposal we are requesting funding for an equipment that will allow us to build cellular environments in which we will be able to control the stiffness of the material independently of the chemistry of the environment. This will enable us to determine with great precision how each specific parameter of the cell environment affect different function of the cells or how they collectively organise to build tissues. We will use this knowledge to generate new in vitro models of organ physiology and study how ageing affects their function.The equipment will also be offered as a service to the wider community of researchers in Edinburgh. This technology is currently not available in our institutions but the demand is increasing rapidly and attracts interest from researchers across diverse fields of research.