Research Initiation Award: Multifunctional Intracellular Nano-Probes based on Engineered Bacterial Flagella

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，这些教师正在建立新的研究计划或重新定向和重建现有的研究计划。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善所在机构的研究和教学。授予佛罗里达农业和机械大学的奖项可能会在许多领域产生更广泛的影响。该项目的目标是探索哺乳动物细胞内存在的动态环境，以最终了解疾病过程和治疗分子的发展。该项目是与佛罗里达州立大学的教师合作进行的，本科生参与了这项研究。该项目的总体研究目标是开发一种策略，利用工程细菌鞭毛以高空间和时间分辨率研究哺乳动物细胞的细胞和亚细胞环境。为了实现这一目标，这项研究的具体目标是描述细胞质中与生理相关的环境中鞭毛的多态特征；用刺激反应小分子对鞭毛为基础的磁性胶体游泳者进行化学修饰；以及研究外部驱动力和细胞介导的生化机制促进的主动和被动内化。这些无线控制软测量的开发将使纳米级流体环境的微创直接探测成为可能。该项目将导致识别局部蜂窝区域内微小的物理化学性质变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improves research and teaching at the home institution. The award to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University has potential broader impacts in a number of areas. The goal of this project is to probe the dynamic environments that exist within mammalian cells to eventually understand disease processes and the development of therapeutic molecules. The project is a collaborative effort with faculty at Florida State University and involves undergraduate students in the research.The overarching research goal of the project is to develop a strategy for investigating cellular and sub-cellular environments of mammalian cells with high spatial and temporal resolution using engineered bacterial flagella. Towards this goal, the investigation specifically aims to characterize flagellar polymorphism in physiological relevant environments found within the cytosol; chemically modify flagella-based magnetic colloidal swimmers with stimuli-responsive small molecules; and to investigate active and passive internalization facilitated by externally driven forces and cell-mediated biochemical mechanisms. The development of these wirelessly controlled soft sensors will enable minimally invasive direct probing of nano scale fluidic environments. Identification of minute physiochemical property changes within local cellular regions will result from this project.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.