Release date: 2010-12-01
Recently, a research team led by Rashid Bashir, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering at the University of Illinois, used a novel microsensor to reveal the relationship between cell mass and cell proliferation rate. The results were published online in the American Academy of Sciences. In the Journal of the Journal (PNAS).
"The new microsensors are the result of a fusion of microengineering and cell biology technologies," said Bashir, director of the Micronano Technology Engineering Laboratory at the University of Illinois. "The new tools will drive the development of biology and help us answer cell biology. A series of important issues in cancer research and tissue engineering."
The mechanisms that reveal cell growth and division are important not only for basic biology, but also for diagnosis, drug development, tissue engineering, and understanding cancer mechanisms. For example, understanding the key mechanisms in these processes can help identify specific drug targets to slow or prevent uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.
For a long time, biologists have a question as to whether cells grow at a fixed rate or as cell mass increases as cells grow faster. Because past studies have often used accumulated cell populations to study, it is impossible to determine the growth of individual cells. mode.
Using small, sensitive microsensors, researchers at the University of Illinois tracked the cell clusters formed by individual colon cancer cells and their division processes. The researchers found that cells did not grow at the same rate throughout the cell cycle, but grew faster as cell mass increased.
Microsensor A tiny suspension structure integrated on a silicon chip. Each microsensor is only 50 microns wide, which is equivalent to half the width of a person's hair. This suspended structure can vibrate at a specific frequency and change as the mass increases. As the cell mass increases, the resonant frequency of the sensor decreases.
“The smaller the sensor structure, the more sensitive it is to the quality of the cells placed on it,†says Bashir. “A cell is usually only a few milligrams or less. If we can make the sensor small enough, it will be very good for the cell. Sensitive."
Researchers have developed an array of sensor chips on which researchers use cells in a similar way to culture dishes, allowing them to obtain individual cell data while also detecting individual cells.
Another advantage of these microsensors is that when cells grow on the sensor, the researchers can obtain images of the cells through the microscope. By observing these cells, the researchers tracked the link between various cellular processes and changes in cell mass.
“With images as a control, we can reliably observe cell division and growth and link it to the test results. It can truly verify the results we get,†Bashir said. “Now we can measure optical and quality. The tests are brought together."
By detecting live cells and fixed cells, the researchers can also infer the physical properties of the cells, such as hardness, using mathematical models. Narayana Aluru and K. Jimmy Hsia, co-authors of the paper, mechanical science and engineering professors, conducted extensive analysis and numerical simulations to reveal the effects of cell hardness and contact on mass measurements.
Next, the researchers plan to extend the scope of the study to other cell lines and explore more optical measurements and fluorescent markers.
Source: Biopass
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