Characterization of the rheological properties of polymeric networks biological alive

• Grant number: 12/21103-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Adriano Mesquita Alencar
• Grantee: Adriano Mesquita Alencar
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandre da Costa Pereira ; Juan José LLovera González ; Mikiya Muramatsu ; Walter Maigon Pontuschka

Abstract

One of the fundamental problems of cell mechanics can be designed around the mechanisms that are responsible for the rheological properties of cells and these properties are determined by genotype and phenotype, in addition to their metabolic activity. It is known that some of these properties are governed by entropic dynamics of its fibers, but the physical basis for this theory, in the context of living cells, remains unclear. This project aims to understand some of the mechanisms that alter the rheological properties of the cells by comparing the results of rheological measurements using five experimental techniques with numerical/mathematical models: (1) diffusion of micro and nano spheres on the surface and in the bulk of the cell; (2) Optical Magnetic Twisting Cytometry, (3) Traction Force Microscopy, (4) fluorescence images, and (5) scattering techniques and laser-speckle diffraction. These techniques are complementary and capable of measuring specific rheological properties, respectively: diffusive properties, viscoelasticity, the cell tension over the substrate, the physical structure of the cytoskeleton, and certain optical properties of the cell, such as fluctuations in the refraction index. Using these techniques we hope to find the phenotypic properties that correlate with rheological properties. The determination of these properties will be useful for drug development, prevention and prediction of some heart problems and a contribution to the basic understanding of cellular physiology. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DINARDO, CARLA LUANA; VENTURINI, GABRIELA; ZHOU, ENHUA H.; WATANABE, II SEI; GASTALHO CAMPOS, LUCIENE CRISTINA; DARIOLLI, RAFAEL; DA MOTTA-LEAL-FILHO, JOAQUIM MAURICIO; CARVALHO, VALDEMIR MELECHCO; MORAIS CARDOZO, KARINA HELENA; KRIEGER, JOSE EDUARDO; et al. Variation of mechanical properties and quantitative proteomics of VSMC along the arterial tree. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-HEART AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY, v. 306, n. 4, p. H505-H516, FEB 2014. (12/21103-0)