Tools To Study Cell Motility and Ion Channels

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This research will study two areas: Mechanisms of cell motility, and molecular action of ion channels in cell membranes. It has three specific foci: i) the motility of mammalian cells; ii) the motility of bacterial cells; and iii) electrophysioiogy of ion channels. The work will also develop new experimental methods for examining these biological phenomena and processes. These developments will emphasize microtools, fabricated using a combination of soft lithography, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), microfluidics, and electrochemistry. These projects are tied together by three common themes: motility, sensing, and new, microfabricated tools for biology/biochemistry. The work will have three broad outcomes. It will clarify the molecular and cell physiological mechanisms of motility in mammalian and bacterial cells. It will provide new systems for studying ion channels, it will develop new tools to support these studies, and demonstrate these tools in the context of biological problems. These studies are relevant to a number of areas of biology in which an understanding of the mechanisms of cellular motility and cellular sensing are important; from fundamental studies of development, metastasis, angiogenesis, and infectious disease to applications in cell-based sensors and tools for high-throughput screening of leads. The work spans biology, microfabrication, and biophysics, and an important product of the research will be students broadly trained in biological and physical sciences.