Other Projects

Exploring the Connection between Molecular Spectra and Cell Stiffness

Bioengineers studying cell mechanics research questions typically use traditional optical microscopes used by biologists. Optical microscopes are limited in the maximum achievable resolution by the diffraction limit, so researchers cannot see molecules with this technique. Cell mechanical behavior is determined by what is happening at the molecular scale: which molecules are present (composition), how they are oriented in space (conformation, e.g. folded and knotted vs. straight), and the types and strengths of bonds between atoms within molecules and between molecules. Thus, the mechanical behavior we observe and measure is interpreted and explained by molecular phenomena.

UMass Boston’s Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy (CPCT) has acquired state-of-the-art Raman and Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy systems from Bruker Optics. We are establishing a new research project that uses the CPCT spectroscopy instruments to obtain molecular-scale measurements that we will connect to our existing lipid bilayer and cell mechanics measurements for novel integrated insight into biological cellular phenomena.