Quantifying Cellular Reaction to Geometric Properties of Extracellular Environment

Quantifying Cellular Reaction to Geometric Properties of Extracellular Environment.

Advances in stem cell engineering prove that changes in mechanics contribute to cell physiology. It remains a challenge to understand the mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to mechanical signals from the extracellular environment, in particular to its microstructural geometry. Clarifying fundamental mechanobiological mechanisms will have a profound impact on biotechnology. PI2 invented a nano-porous biomaterial that can be controlled in its microstructural layout. Thereby it became possible to modulate the mechanical environment around single cells growing on or in the material. To understand mechanisms behind the exchange of forces between a cell and its surroundings, we applied synchrotron generated X-Ray tomography, capturing 3D images of thousands of cells cultured in geometrically different nanostructures. This project is about developing a mathematical model that allow us to identify important morphological traits of the material microstructure. To this end, we will develop and apply methods from stereology, stochastic geometry and biomechanics to the data. This approach is unprecedented in literature. It will serve as a building block for future investigations of cell-matrix interaction needed in materials innovation.