Nanostructured substrates for cell assays

描述(由申请人提供)：我们在这个第二阶段SBIR提案中的目标是开发和优化一种新的细胞迁移试验的组件。在第一阶段，我们展示了液晶对细胞膜的响应呈现可预测的取向，因此它们可以用于一种敏感、快速、通用的方法来报告细胞数量。在这一应用中，我们建议在发展细胞迁移的定量检测中建立液晶准确报告细胞数量和空间位置的能力。这种创新的方法将通过减少劳动力、时间和成本并提供与高通量格式的兼容性，提供一种与当前方法相比具有许多内在优势的技术。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our goal in this Phase 2 SBIR proposal is to develop and optimize the components for a novel cell migration assay. In Phase 1, we demonstrated that liquid crystals assume a predictable orientation in response to cellular membranes, and therefore they could be used in a sensitive, rapid, generalizable method for reporting cell number. In this application, we propose to build on the ability of liquid crystals to accurately report cell number and spatial location in the development of a quantitative assay for cell migration. This innovative approach will provide a technology with many intrinsic advantages over current methods by reducing labor, time and cost and by providing compatibility with high throughput formats.