"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)." A class of three-dimensional micro force sensors and a class of substrates with integrated micro force sensors will be developed to measure the cell sensitivities to local stiffness; A class of continuous substrates with stiffness patterns at micro- and nano-meter scales will be developed to study cell sensitivities to local substrate stiffness (SS); A class of substrates with magnetorheological and magnetic fluids will be developed to study cell response to changing SS; Based on the obtained experimental results, a detailed biophysical model will be established at the molecular level to describe the dynamic cell mechanosensitive mechanism and process to SS.
Intellectual Merit: Cell adhesion, spreading, migration, and differentiation have been found to be extremely sensitive to the stiffness of the substrates on which the cells were grown. But the mechanism through which the cells sense the SS locally and how the cells integrate the local SS information and transfer this information into biological behaviors remain largely unclear, which motivated and the issues will be addressed by this proposed research. The successful completion of this project will significantly enhance our understanding of cell mechanosensitivity and mechanotransduction, cell behaviors in tissues, and tissue development. Like the widely used patterning the surface topography and chemistry, the concept of micro- and nano-patterning the stiffness of the substrates, introduced in this project, opens a new paradigm and is transformative for the study of cell and tissue mechanobiology and engineering and its applications.
Broader Impacts: The results to be drawn from the proposed research provide fundamental knowledge for us to realize micromechanical control of cell and tissue development, which has crucial applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The developed micro and nano methods can be used in or extended to any other studies involving measurements of mechanical properties and interactions, examinations of interfacial phenomena, and fabrications of patterned surfaces. The educational plan will promote the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering, quickly disseminate the research advances to broad audiences, result in some of the core curricula and facilities for the new Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program at Florida Tech, and boost cross-disciplinary research and education. Lectures and demonstrations will be given in public venues; Summer camps and short training courses will be organized and a significant number of seats will be reserved for students from underrepresented groups, and three new graduate courses will be offered at Florida Tech; An informal club named ?Closer Interaction? will be established for the students, faculty, and staff from the engineering and biological departments at Florida Tech.
