We are pleased to welcome Dr Jinju Chen, Reader in Biointerface Engineering at Newcastle University to give a talk on the 'Biomechanics of living cells and their interactions with biomaterials' on Wednesday 22 November 2023.

Abstract:

It is known that changes in cell mechanics are often correlated with disease progression. Cell-matrix adhesion is important for the patterning, integrity and homeostasis of tissues and may provide a target for therapy, for example in cancer metastasis. Cell mechanics and adhesion between cells and the matrix are also important for tissue engineering. Therefore, it is important to study cell mechanics and cell-to-material adhesion. However, simultaneous characterization of the cell-to-biomaterial adhesion and viscoelastic properties of the same cell is challenging. In this study, we present a new approach to simultaneously determine these properties for single cells, using Microfluidics-based Atomic Force Microscopy. 

On the other hand, mechanosensing of cells to the surrounding material is crucial for their physiological and pathological processes. The emergent dynamics of cells arise from a variety of interactions between cells and their local environment. However, materials design to guide cellular responses is largely ad hoc due to the lack of comprehensive modelling techniques for quantitative understanding. Here we propose a computational model, that couples cell dynamics and cell-materials interactions, to study the mechanosensing of fibroblast cells seeded on different biomaterials.

Short Biography:

Dr Chen is currently a Reader in Biointerface Engineering at Newcastle University, UK. In December, she will join Loughborough University as a Professor of Advanced Materials and Biointerfaces. She is a Principal Editor of Journal of Materials Research, Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports and Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. Her research spans cell-materials interactions, cell and tissue mechanics, nanobiomechanics, antimicrobial surfaces, biofilm control. She has secured £9.15M research funding with £2.44M as PI from various funding agencies.

Staff profile: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/engineering/staff/profile/jinjuchen.html