CAREER: Engineering Artificial Cells

PI的目标是建立一个生物医学工程研究和培训计划，致力于开发新型人工细胞作为药物/蛋白质/基因递送系统。他假设，天然存在的细胞骨架聚合物沿着与脂质体内天然存在的调节性细胞骨架切断和交联蛋白的包封将诱导人工细胞的形成。使用这些调节蛋白质将允许我设计细胞骨架聚合物的长度和交联密度。这将因此影响三维细胞骨架网络的结构和机械属性。所得到的包封的细胞骨架网络的结构将赋予囊泡双层其机械稳定性，使其机械稳定。这些机械强化的混合囊泡将具有独特的能力，动态响应外部产生的剪切力，通过重排其细胞骨架网络。本质上，如果剪切超过它们的屈服应变，这些囊泡将自我修复。他的目标的教育部分是培养代表性不足的非洲裔美国本科生与此奖项。学生将有能力参与拟议的研究活动的各个方面。目前，在生物医学科学方面存在少数民族短缺的问题。这项建议将有助于扭转这一赤字。

PI's objectives are to establish a biomedical engineering research and training programdedicated towards the development of novel artificial cells as drug/protein/gene delivery systems. He hypothesizes that encapsulation of naturally occurring cytoskeletal polymers along with naturally occurring regulatory cytoskeletal severing and cross-linking proteins inside liposomes will induce the formation of an artificial cell. Use of these regulatory proteins will allow me to engineer cytoskeletal polymer length, andcrosslink density. This will consequently influence the three dimensional cytoskeletal network's structure, and mechanical attributes. The resulting encapsulated cytoskeletal network's structure will impart its mechanical stability to the vesicle bilayer making it mechanically stable. These mechanically strengthened hybrid vesicles will have the unique ability to dynamically respond to externally generated shear forces through rearrangement of their cytoskeletal network. In essence these vesicles will self-heal themselves if sheared past their yield strain. The educational component of his goals is to train underrepresented African-American Undergraduate students with this award. Students will have the ability to participate in all aspects of the proposed research activities. Currently, there exists a shortage of minorities in the biomedical sciences. This proposal will help reverse this deficit.