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Midwest Mechanics Seminar Series Quantitative
Characterization of 3-D Deformations of Cell Interactions
with Soft Biomaterials Guruswami
Ravichandran, Ph.D. John
E. Goode, Jr., Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering Graduate
Aeronautical Laboratories California
Institute of Technology Abstract The
interactions between biochemical processes and mechanical signaling during cell
adhesion, migration, spreading and other processes appear to play an important
role in cellular behavior. Three-dimensional measurement techniques are needed
to investigate cellular behavior to simulate the in vivo conditions. A
three-dimensional (3-D) full-field measurement technique has been developed for
measuring large deformations in soft materials and validated. The technique
utilizes a digital volume correlation (DVC) algorithm to track motions of
sub-volumes within 3-D images obtained using laser fluorescence confocal
microscopy. The technique is well-suited for investigating cell-extra cellular
matrix mechanical interactions as well as for obtaining local constitutive
properties of soft biomaterials in 3-D. Results from the migration of
fibroblast cells on polyacrylamide gels and their implications for cell
motility models are discussed. These results provide new insights on force
fields generated by cells and the role of the mechanical properties of the
substrate. Tuesday,
April 22, 2008, 10:30 am
3540
Engineering
Refreshments
served at 10:15 am
Biography Guruswami
Ravichandran is currently the John E. Goode, Jr., Professor of Aeronautics and
Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He received
his Ph.D. in Solid Mechanics and Structures from Brown University in 1986. He is a Fellow of the ASME and a
recipient of a Presidential Young Investigator award from NSF. His recent honors include a Doctor
Honoris Causa from the Paul Verlaine University, France and the B. J. Lazan
award from the Society of Experimental Mechanics. His research interests
include mechanical behavior of materials, wave propagation, composites, active
and bio materials, and experimental techniques. |