This collaborative proposal combines recent advances in the areas of microscale structures possessing optical resonances and mechano-transduction characterization at the cellular level to advance understanding of the biomechanics and mechanobiology at the cell-extracellular matrix interface for cells of the vascular wall. Combining the biomedical optics knowledge of the Meissner group with the cardiovascular, cell biology and AFM expertise of the Meininger group will result in the demonstration of a novel evanescent optical imaging technique that can be broadly applied to nanoscale imaging in cell biology. Evanescent fields generated by whispering gallery modes in microspherical structures will for the first time enable total internal reflection microscopy (TIRFM) imaging and sensing on the apical surface of cells in culture. With combined expertise in biomedical engineering and life sciences, the objectives of the collaboration are first to develop a spatially mobile TIRFM system by coupling resonant microspheres to an atomic force microscope (AFM) and second to study dynamic biological processes at the cell-extracellular matrix interface. This project integrates developments in both engineering and life sciences, and will produce a new imaging method that will both advance understanding of cell mechano-sensation and -transduction as well as provide a novel evanescent technique complementing conventional microscopy by expanding range and resolution used in nanoscale imaging at the cell membrane surface.
