Role of Mechanical Environment on the Evolution of Tissue Microstructure: Meso-scale Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions

University South Carolina Research Foundation, Columbia SC

Investigators

Abstract

Role of Mechanical Environment on the Evolution of Tissue Microstructure: Meso-scale Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions Abstract The goal of this work is to investigate the effects of local mechanical environment on the architecture and geometry of cells and the collagen networks in collagenous tissue. A technique to quantify local mechanical environments is proposed which uses light scattered from gold nanorods to create a pattern marker for optical measurements. This method will generating small scale field data and can be used in for measurements in realistic three-dimensional materials. The potential exists to extend this method by derivatizing the nanorods to target specific molecular components and track specific events. Three aspects of tissue architecture - cell orientation, collagen alignment and multi-cell spatial organization - will be characterized and correlated to the measured local mechanical environment. As a broader impact, students from humanist fields will function as participant-observers: producing commentaries on how science is done, articles explaining science or imagining the future, and art work based on the science.