CAREER: Engineering Biomimetic Interfaces with Dual Chemical-Mechanical Gradients to Study Cell Migration

弗吉尼亚理工大学和州立大学材料研究部生物材料项目的职业奖是研究细胞迁移，特别是了解细胞在运动方向和程度方面处理的不同和潜在冲突的信号。由于体内系统固有的复杂性，这项研究计划的目标是开发一类工程接口，将被用作仿生基板，研究细胞迁移。该项目的总体目标是设计具有双重和相反的化学和机械梯度的聚合物界面，并监测这些基板上的细胞运动和响应。该项目的具体科学目标是：a）利用独特和通用的方法在单一基质上引入多个仿生界面; B）进行细胞迁移研究; c）测量活细胞的弹性; d）研究细胞如何重塑基质。总之，这些研究有望揭示化学和机械刺激对细胞反应的同时影响。该职业奖的教育部分无缝地将生物材料研究的概念编织到教育和推广中。PI将为不同种族的女学生介绍为期一周的实验室模块，重点是细胞-生物材料相互作用。通过这次活动，学生们将获得有价值的见解，形成一个科学问题，了解如何设计和进行新的实验，并分析这些研究的数据。细胞的运动（细胞迁移）是一个非常重要的生物学现象，因为它在发育生物学，组织再生，癌症转移和伤口愈合中起着至关重要的作用。多种刺激可以调节和指导细胞迁移。这个教师早期职业项目将侧重于了解细胞如何处理不同和潜在冲突的信号，以便它在运动的方向性和程度上做出决定。该项目的教育部分将生物材料研究的概念无缝地编织到教育和推广中。PI将为不同种族的女学生介绍为期一周的实验室模块，重点是细胞-生物材料相互作用。通过这个模块，这些学生有望获得实验室研究的不同方面的宝贵实践经验，如制定科学问题，设计实验，进行实验，并分析这些实验的数据。

This Career award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is to study cell migration, specifically to understand how different and potentially conflicting signals that are processed by the cell in terms of direction and extent of its motion. Since in vivo systems are inherently complex, this research program will aim to develop a class of engineered interfaces that will be used as biomimetic substrates to study cell migration. The overall goals of this project are to design polymeric interfaces that exhibit dual and opposing chemical and mechanical gradients, and to monitor cellular locomotion and responsiveness on these substrates. The specific scientific goals of the project are: a) to utilize a unique and versatile method to introduce multiple biomimetic interfaces on a single substrate; b) to conduct cell migration studies; c) to measure the elasticity of live cells; and d) to study how cells remodel the substrate. Together, these studies are expected to reveal insights into the simultaneous effects of chemical and mechanical stimuli on cellular response. The educational component of this CAREER award seamlessly weaves concepts in biomaterials research into education and outreach. The PI will introduce a week-long laboratory module for ethnically diverse female students that focuses on cell-biomaterial interactions. Through this activity, these students would gain valuable insights into formulating a scientific problem, understanding how to design and conduct new experiments and analyzing data from these studies.The movement of cells (cell migration) is an extremely important biological phenomenon because of its critical role in developmental biology, tissue regeneration, cancer metastasis, and wound healing. Multiple stimuli can modulate and direct cell migration. This Faculty Early CAREER project will focus on developing an understanding how different and potentially conflicting signals are processed by a cell in order for it to make a decision in the directionality and extent of motion. The education component of this project seamlessly weaves concepts in biomaterials research into education and outreach. The PI will introduce a week-long laboratory module for ethnically diverse female students that focuses on cell-biomaterial interactions. Through this module, these students are expected to gain valuable hands-on experience on different aspects of laboratory research such as formulating a scientific problem, designing an experiment, conducting experiments, and analyzing data from these experiments.