Publications (414) View all
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Article: Integrating focal adhesion dynamics, cytoskeleton remodeling, and actin motor activity for predicting cell migration on 3D curved surfaces of the extracellular matrix.
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ABSTRACT: An integrative cell migration model incorporating focal adhesion (FA) dynamics, cytoskeleton and nucleus remodeling and actin motor activity is developed for predicting cell migration behaviors on 3-dimensional curved surfaces, such as cylindrical lumens in the 3-D extracellular matrix (ECM). The work is motivated by 3-D microfluidic migration experiments suggesting that the migration speed and direction may vary depending on the cross sectional shape of the lumen along which the cell migrates. In this paper, the mechanical structure of the cell is modeled as double elastic membranes of cell and nucleus. The two elastic membranes are connected by stress fibers, which are extended from focal adhesions on the cell surface to the nuclear membrane. The cell deforms and gains traction as transmembrane integrins distributed over the outer cell membrane bind to ligands on the ECM, form focal adhesions, and activate stress fibers. Probabilities at which integrin ligand-receptor bonds are formed as well as ruptures are affected by the surface geometry, resulting in diverse migration behaviors that depend on the curvature of the surface. Monte Carlo simulations of the integrative model reveal that (a) the cell migration speed is dependent on the cross sectional area of the lumen with a maximum speed at a particular diameter or width, (b) as the lumen diameter increases, the cell tends to spread and migrate around the circumference of the lumen, while it moves in the longitudinal direction as the lumen diameter narrows, (c) once the cell moves in one direction, it tends to stay migrating in the same direction despite the stochastic nature of migration. The relationship between the cell migration speed and the lumen width agrees with microfluidic experimental data for cancer cell migration.Integrative Biology 09/2012; 4(11):1386-97. · 4.51 Impact Factor -
Article: Formation and optogenetic control of engineered 3D skeletal muscle bioactuators.
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ABSTRACT: Densely arrayed skeletal myotubes are activated individually and as a group using precise optical stimulation with high spatiotemporal resolution. Skeletal muscle myoblasts are genetically encoded to express a light-activated cation channel, Channelrhodopsin-2, which allows for spatiotemporal coordination of a multitude of skeletal myotubes that contract in response to pulsed blue light. Furthermore, ensembles of mature, functional 3D muscle microtissues have been formed from the optogenetically encoded myoblasts using a high-throughput device. The device, called "skeletal muscle on a chip", not only provides the myoblasts with controlled stress and constraints necessary for muscle alignment, fusion and maturation, but also facilitates the measurement of forces and characterization of the muscle tissue. We measured the specific static and dynamic stresses generated by the microtissues and characterized the morphology and alignment of the myotubes within the constructs. The device allows testing of the effect of a wide range of parameters (cell source, matrix composition, microtissue geometry, auxotonic load, growth factors and exercise) on the maturation, structure and function of the engineered muscle tissues in a combinatorial manner. Our studies integrate tools from optogenetics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology with skeletal muscle tissue engineering to open up opportunities to generate soft robots actuated by a multitude of spatiotemporally coordinated 3D skeletal muscle microtissues.Lab on a Chip 09/2012; · 5.67 Impact Factor -
Article: Sprouting angiogenesis under a chemical gradient regulated by interactions with an endothelial monolayer in a microfluidic platform.
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ABSTRACT: Microfluidic cell culture assays are versatile tools for studying cell migration, particularly angiogenesis. Such assays can deliver precisely controlled linear gradients of chemical stimuli to cultured cells in a microfluidic channel, offering excellent optical resolution and in situ monitoring of cellular morphogenesis in response to a gradient. Microfluidic cell culture assays provide a chemical gradient subject to molecular diffusion, although cellular metabolism can perturb it. The actual gradient perturbed by cells has not been precisely described in the context of regulated cellular morphogenesis. We modeled the chemical gradient in a microfluidic channel by simulating the analyte(VEGF) distribution during cellular interactions. The results were experimentally verified by monitoring sprouting angiogenic response from a monolayer of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (hUVECs) into a type 1 collagen scaffold. The simulation provided a basis for understanding a real distribution of the analyte interrupted by cells in microfluidic device. The new protocol enables one to quantify the morphogenesis of hUVECs under a flat, less-steep, or steep gradient.Analytical Chemistry 11/2011; 83(22):8454-9. · 5.86 Impact Factor -
Article: Dynamic role of cross-linking proteins in actin rheology.
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ABSTRACT: We develop a computational model to compare the relative importance of unbinding and unfolding of actin cross-linking proteins (ACPs) in the dynamic properties of the actin cytoskeleton. We show that in the strain-stiffening regime with typical physiological and experimental strain rates, unbinding events are predominant with negligible unfolding. ACPs unbound by greater forces experience larger displacements, with a tendency to rebind to different filaments. At constant strain, stress relaxes to physiological levels by unbinding only--not unfolding--of ACPs, which is consistent with experiments. Also, rebinding of ACPs dampens full relaxation of stress. When the network is allowed to return to a stress-free state after shear deformation, plastic deformation is observed only with unbinding. These results suggest that despite the possibility of unfolding, unbinding of ACPs is the major determinant for the rheology of the actin network.Biophysical Journal 10/2011; 101(7):1597-603. · 3.65 Impact Factor -
Article: Spectrally resolved multidepth fluorescence imaging.
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ABSTRACT: We present a multicolor fluorescence imaging modality to visualize in real-time tissue structures emitting multispectral fluorescent light from different focal depths. Each designated spectrum of fluorescent emission from a specific depth within a volumetric tissue is probed by a depth-spectrum selective holographic grating. The grating for each fluorescent color are multiplexed within a volume hologram, which enables simultaneously obtaining multicolored fluorescent information at different depths within a biological tissue sample. We demonstrate the imaging modality's ability to obtain laser-induced multicolored fluorescence images of a biological sample from different depths without scanning. We also experimentally demonstrate that the imaging modality can be simultaneously operated at both fluorescent and bright field modes to provide complementary information of volumetric tissue structures at different depths in real-time.Journal of Biomedical Optics 09/2011; 16(9):096015. · 3.16 Impact Factor
