Cytomechanics Core

细胞力学核心旨在支持特拉华州大学协调一致的多学科重点研究骨关节炎（OA），这是一个主要的公共卫生问题。除了巨大的社会经济负担外，与OA相关的疼痛和残疾极大地影响了患者的生活质量。OA的发展涉及多种因素，包括年龄，遗传和机械因素。在UD COBRE项目的第一和第二阶段，我们在理解机械力在OA发展中的作用以及在分子、细胞、组织、关节和全身水平治疗这种病理学方面取得了很大进展。 细胞力学是正常细胞和组织功能以及疾病发展的基础。细胞是生命的普遍基本单位，其行为就像一个“机械的生命”实体。除了由化学反应介导的“嗅觉”或“味觉”外，细胞还显示出由机械相互作用介导的强烈的“触觉”。因此，机械环境驱动许多基本过程，例如细胞形状、移动性、生长、分化和细胞命运决定。在OA中，许多重要的问题仍然没有答案，例如（1）机械力如何从全身运动和身体活动转换为局部组织和细胞应力，（2）健康或患病的天然关节组织中的细胞如何响应和适应机械环境，（3）如何使用我们的组织和细胞力学知识来设计药物干预或康复方案来治疗OA，（4）如何实现组织工程中细胞和组织力学行为的实时闭环控制。为了满足这些科学需求，我们设计了这个细胞力学核心，其中包括最先进的成像技术和精确的机械操作工具，这些工具是在之前的COBRE资助年度获得的，并将继续由我们的COBRE团队建立。

The Cytomechanics Core is designed to support the University of Delaware's concerted multi-disciplinary focus on the study of osteoarthritis (OA), a major public health concern. Aside from the large socioeconomic burden, the pain and disability associated with OA greatly impacts the quality life of patients. The development of OA involves multiple factors including age, genetics, and mechanical factors. During phases I and II of the UD COBRE program, we have made great strides in understanding the role of mechanical forces in OA development and treatment of this pathology at the molecular, cellular, tissue, joint, and whole body levels. Cytomechanics is fundamental for normal cell and tissue function and disease development. The cell, the universal basic unit of life, behaves as a "mechanical living" entity. In addition to sense of "smell" or "taste" mediated by chemical reactions, cells also display a strong sense of "touch" mediated by mechanical interactions. Thus, the mechanical environment drives many fundamental processes such as cell shape, mobility, growth, differentiation, and cell fate determination. In OA, many important remain unanswered, such as (1) how mechanical forces are transduced from systemic locomotion and physical activity to local tissue and cellular stresses, (2) how cells in healthy or diseased native joint tissues respond and adapt to the mechanical environment, (3) how to use our knowledge of tissue and cell mechanics to design pharmaceutical interventions or rehabilitation protocols to treat OA, (4) how to achieve real-time and closed-loop control of cell and tissue mechanics and behavior during tissue engineering. To meet these scientific needs, we have designed this Cytomechanics Core with state-of-the-art imaging techniques and precise mechanical manipulation tools that have been acquired during previous COBRE funding years and will continue to be built upon by our COBRE team.