Descrizione del progetto
Studiare le proprietà meccaniche delle cellule in tempo reale
Le cellule hanno proprietà meccaniche complesse che sono importanti per le loro funzioni e le interazioni con l’ambiente. Queste proprietà comprendono la rigidità, l’elasticità, la viscosità, l’adesione e la contrattilità e possono cambiare in risposta a forze meccaniche, segnali biochimici e fisiopatologia. La microscopia Brillouin è una tecnica di imaging in grado di misurare alcune proprietà meccaniche dei campioni biologici e di fornire informazioni importanti sui loro stati fisiologici e patologici. Il progetto IVBM-4PAP, finanziato dal Consiglio europeo per l’innovazione, intende migliorare i tempi di acquisizione richiesti dalla microscopia Brillouin, offrendo uno strumento prezioso per lo studio dei processi biologici in tempo reale e l’identificazione degli stati patogeni delle cellule.
Obiettivo
The role and importance of mechanical properties of cells and tissues in cellular function, development and disease has widely been
acknowledged, however standard techniques currently used to assess them exhibit intrinsic limitations (invasive, lack of 3D capability
and of sub-cellular resolution). Recently, Brillouin Microscopy (BM), a type of optical elastography, has emerged as a non-destructive,
label- and contact-free method that can probe the viscoelastic properties of biological samples with diffraction-limited resolution in
3D. This led to increased attention amongst the biological and medical research communities. However, due to the long acquisition
time (hours), this novel technique has been applied only to fixed samples. One important open challenge is to use this approach to
follow the mechano-biological processes in living cells and in real time. Aim of our project is overcome the spectral-imaging
acquisacknowledged, however standard techniques currently used to assess them exhibit intrinsic limitations (invasive, lack of 3D capability and of sub-cellular resolution). Recently, Brillouin Microscopy (BM), a type of optical elastography, has emerged as a non-destructive, label- and contact-free method that can probe the viscoelastic properties of biological samples with diffraction-limited resolution in 3D. This led to increased attention amongst the biological and medical research communities. However, due to the long acquisition time (hours), this novel technique has been applied only to fixed samples. One important open challenge is to use this approach to follow the mechano-biological processes in living cells and in real time. Aim of our project is overcome the spectral-imaging acquisition time limitation by applying the heterodyne detection scheme, allowing the collection of viscoelastic properties in living sample at a sub-second timescale. We will attempt solving specific physio-pathological open problems in biomedicine for the first time.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Invito a presentare proposte
HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoMeccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinatore
16163 Genova
Italia