Bioengineering Facility for UV Structured Substrate Patterning

生物细胞的爬行运动和力量产生是动物生命的重要组成部分，并且可以在不同的情况下看到，从神经元连接神经系统，白细胞对抗感染，或者在癌细胞转移和侵入新组织的情况下的疾病。爬行运动的关键是细胞与底层基质的相互作用，其中细胞机械形成对表面的粘附，施加力以推动和拉动自身向前，然后重塑以继续前进。在这个过程中，细胞遵循一组复杂的线索，包括扩散信号，以及粘附蛋白梯度，最近的工作已经揭示了机械梯度在引导定向细胞运动中的作用，然而，这些不同线索的相对强度仍不清楚。了解这一过程中所涉及的机制对细胞生物物理学至关重要，并将为医学背景下的下游应用提供信息。此外，控制这些底物性质将为细胞运动的微米级调节开辟新的可能性。

The crawling movement and force generation of biological cells is an essential part of animal life, and can be seen in diverse situations from neurons wiring together the nervous system, leukocytes fighting infection, or in disease as in the case of cancerous cells metastasizing and invading new tissue. Key for crawling movement is the cellular interaction with the underlying substrate, where the cellular machinery forms adhesions to the surface, exerts forces to push and pull itself forward, and then remodels to continue advancing. During this process, cells follow a complex set of cues, including diffusive signals, as well as adherent protein gradients, and recent work has uncovered the role of mechanical gradients in guiding directional cell movement, however, the relative strengths of these distinct cues remains unclear. Understanding the mechanics involved in this process is essential for cellular biophysics, and will inform downstream applications in medical contexts. Additionally, control of these substrate properties will open new possibilities in micron-scale regulation of cell movement.