CHEMOTACTIC MOVEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF MEMBRANES AND PROTOCELLS
Abstract
Dynamic and transient phase separation in biological membranes is crucial for a variety of cellular processes such as transport, cell signaling, regulation and recruitment of membrane proteins. The proposed work aims to understand how chemical gradients, that are ubiquitous in living systems, drive differentiation, movement and assembly of membranes and synthetic cells in both 2 and 3 dimensions. This will allow us to understand how energy-harvesting out-of-equilibrium systems evolve and change with environmental perturbations. We will explore several methods to apply local chemical gradients across membrane interfaces, including microfluidics, chemically-functionalized solid probes, and light-triggered uncaging of reagents or catalysts. We will use chemical force microscopy to quantify the forces involved in chemotaxis. Finally, we will engineer populations of autonomous synthetic protocells that have the ability to organize themselves, based on chemical signals from each other and from their environment, to perform complex tasks. We anticipate that our work will open up a new area of mechanobiology: Intrinsic force generation through chemical gradients and its role in biochemical regulation of cell function.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010393
Entities
People
- Ayusman Sen
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Pennsylvania State University
- United States Air Force