Sensing biomechanical forces in the heart

机械敏感离子通道是决定每个心脏细胞如何与其物理环境相互作用的关键分子。然而，它们如何使细胞解码生物力学线索仍然知之甚少。这个问题的核心是缺乏工具来量化激活所需的力。该项目旨在开发新技术来记录心脏内一种关键细胞类型中这些基本通道的活动，并利用这些信息和微工程方法，在单细胞和微组织水平上充分了解这些通道在力传感和产生中的作用。这些知识和技术具有广泛的实用性，远远超出了心脏生物学的范畴，进入了多个领域。

Mechanosensitive ion channels are key molecules that define how each heart cell interacts with their physical environment. Yet how they enable cells to decode biomechanical cues remains poorly understood. At the heart of this problem is a lack of tools to quantify the force required for activation. This project aims to develop novel technologies to record the activity of these essential channels in a critical cell type within the heart, and use this information in addition to micro-engineering approaches to fully understand the role of these channels in force sensing and generation, at both the single cell and micro-tissue levels. This knowledge and technology has broad utility that extends far beyond cardiac biology into multiple fields.