Cytomechanics Core

细胞力学核心旨在支持特拉华大学协调一致的多学科重点研究骨关节炎(OA)，这是一个主要的公共卫生问题。除了巨大的社会经济负担外，与骨性关节炎相关的疼痛和残疾也极大地影响了患者的生活质量。骨性关节炎的发生发展涉及多种因素，包括年龄、遗传和机械因素。在UD Cobre计划的第一和第二阶段，我们在分子、细胞、组织、关节和全身水平上理解机械力在OA的发展和治疗中的作用方面取得了很大进展。 细胞力学是细胞和组织正常功能和疾病发展的基础。细胞是生命的普遍基本单位，它的行为就像一个“机械生命”实体。细胞除了由化学反应介导的“嗅觉”或“味觉”外，还表现出由机械相互作用所介导的强烈“触觉”。因此，机械环境驱动许多基本过程，如细胞形状、移动性、生长、分化和细胞命运决定。在骨关节炎方面，许多重要的问题仍未得到解答，例如(1)机械力如何从全身运动和体力活动传导到局部组织和细胞应力，(2)健康或患病的自然关节组织中的细胞如何响应和适应机械环境，(3)如何利用组织和细胞力学的知识来设计药物干预或康复方案来治疗骨性关节炎，(4)如何在组织工程过程中实现对细胞和组织力学和行为的实时和闭环控制。为了满足这些科学需求，我们设计了这个细胞力学核心，采用了最先进的成像技术和精确的机械操作工具，这些都是在前几年Cobre资金支持期间获得的，我们的Cobre团队将继续在这些工具的基础上发展。

The Cytomechanics Core is designed to support the University of Delaware's concerted multi-disciplinary focus on the study of osteoarthritis (OA), a major public health concern. Aside from the large socioeconomic burden, the pain and disability associated with OA greatly impacts the quality life of patients. The development of OA involves multiple factors including age, genetics, and mechanical factors. During phases I and II of the UD COBRE program, we have made great strides in understanding the role of mechanical forces in OA development and treatment of this pathology at the molecular, cellular, tissue, joint, and whole body levels. Cytomechanics is fundamental for normal cell and tissue function and disease development. The cell, the universal basic unit of life, behaves as a "mechanical living" entity. In addition to sense of "smell" or "taste" mediated by chemical reactions, cells also display a strong sense of "touch" mediated by mechanical interactions. Thus, the mechanical environment drives many fundamental processes such as cell shape, mobility, growth, differentiation, and cell fate determination. In OA, many important remain unanswered, such as (1) how mechanical forces are transduced from systemic locomotion and physical activity to local tissue and cellular stresses, (2) how cells in healthy or diseased native joint tissues respond and adapt to the mechanical environment, (3) how to use our knowledge of tissue and cell mechanics to design pharmaceutical interventions or rehabilitation protocols to treat OA, (4) how to achieve real-time and closed-loop control of cell and tissue mechanics and behavior during tissue engineering. To meet these scientific needs, we have designed this Cytomechanics Core with state-of-the-art imaging techniques and precise mechanical manipulation tools that have been acquired during previous COBRE funding years and will continue to be built upon by our COBRE team.