Microengineering tools to study cellular mechanotransduction

Cells respond to many signals from their local environment, as a result of contact with solid-state surfaces, soluble agents, neighboring cells, and mechanical forces. We are investigating the interactions between these signals to understand how cells integrate the mechanical and biochemical signals in regulating endothelial cell function. Using conventional and unconventional microfabrication approaches originally developed in the semiconductor industry, we are engineering well-defined cellular microenvironments to examine how cells recognize and respond to different cues in their microenvironment. In particular, we are interested in understanding how integrins, cadherins, growth factors, and mechanical cues cooperate to control cytoskeletal structure and mechanics, cell proliferation, and differentiation. We will discuss our approaches to control compositional chemistry, mechanical properties, architecture, and geometry of surfaces, and how these factors regulate cells. Thus, we hope to better understand the fundamental mechanisms that drive tissue organization, while building infrastructure to use microchips to integrate, manipulate, and study living cells.