The University of Maryland, College Park was awarded a $349,681 Project Grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859). The grant will fund the development of two novel "force nanoprobes" that can be used to quantify and map intracellular forces in living cells, with a focus on understanding how mechanical forces influence the structure and function of the genome.
The first nanoprobe will use mechanoluminescence to directly measure applied mechanical stress, while the second will employ dynamic DNA nanostructures to register sub-piconewton scale changes in the local mechanical environment. These force mapping tools will be integrated with super-resolution imaging capabilities to create a comprehensive picture of the mechanical communication taking place within the 3D genome of living HeLa cells. The overarching goal is to elucidate the principles underlying how cells process and distribute mechanical signals, which is critical for understanding the role of mechanotransduction in both normal physiology and disease states.
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