Conference: New Advances in Probing Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions; Berlin, Germany; October 21 - 22, 2016

生命的许多秘密都在细胞之外。细胞外基质（ECM）主要由蛋白质组成，支持组织内的细胞。虽然ECM长期以来一直被视为细胞的静态“家”，但我们开始了解细胞外基质的硬度如何以类似于溶解的信号分子如何控制细胞行为的方式改变细胞活性。 换句话说，ECM有助于确定细胞在婴儿发育过程中的作用，以及在成年期，伤口愈合和癌症侵袭。该基金将资助“细胞-细胞外基质相互作用研究新进展;柏林，德国; 2016年10月21 - 22日”会议，使年轻的研究人员能够与资深科学家会面，了解该领域的前沿技术。细胞机械转导研究的最新进展得益于实验工具的进步。微技术已经使得能够设计和制造用于研究和测量细胞-ECM相互作用的受控物理微环境。工程生物材料的进步使研究人员能够开发模拟组织微环境的合成ECM，并研究改变的理化性质对各种细胞过程的影响。最后，先进的成像和光谱技术促进了体外和活组织中细胞和ECM之间复杂相互作用的可视化。本次会议将重点介绍这些技术中最新创新的应用，以探索细胞-ECM相互作用，旨在从这些子学科的相互作用中激发新的组合实验。

Many of the secrets to life lie outside the cell. The extracellular matrix (ECM), consisting of primarily proteins supports the cells within a tissue. While the ECM has long been viewed as a static "home" for cells, we are starting to understand how the stiffness of the extracellular matrix changes cell activities in ways that are similar to how dissolved signaling molecules control cell behavior. In other words, the ECM helps determine what the cell does during development of a baby, and during adulthood, wound healing, and cancer invasion. Support from this grant for the conference "New Advances in Probing Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions; Berlin, Germany; October 21 - 22, 2016" will enable young investigators to meet senior scientists and to understand technologies at the cutting edge of the field.Recent progress in cell mechanotransduction research has been facilitated by advances of experimental tools. Microtechnologies have enabled the design and fabrication of controlled physical microenvironments for the study and measurement of cell-ECM interactions. Advances in engineered biomaterials have allowed researchers to develop synthetic ECMs that mimic tissue microenvironments and investigate the impact of altered physicochemical properties on various cellular processes. Finally, advanced imaging and spectroscopy techniques have facilitated the visualization of the complex interaction between cells and ECM in vitro and in living tissues. This meeting will highlight the application of recent innovations in these technologies to probing cell-ECM interactions with an aim to inspire new combinatorial experiments from the interaction of these sub-disciplines.