PARTICLE TRACKING WITH MPM/OCT

这个子项目是众多研究子项目之一

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Previous studies using correlation analyses in 2D have been performed by our group about the role of Paxilin, an anchor protein, that is essential for the formation of cellular adhesions. Our model tissue was comprised of cells embedded in a 3D collagen matrix gel where the collagen matrix is used to simulate the ECM. Using the multi-modal system of multi-photon fluorescence (MPM), second harmonic generation (SHG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT), we are able to image the interactions of the cell with the ECM such as the movement of the cell and the resulting deformation in the ECM. We were able to determine the displacement and the velocities at every point in the image using Spatio-Temporal Image Correlation Spectroscopy STICS) from the signals obtained from the OCT and MPM channels. Furthermore we would like to study the relationship between the accumulation of the focal adhesion proteins such as Paxilin and the movement of the cell. Ultimately, as we measure the deformation in the ECM, we would like to extract the force applied at the various cell adhesions.