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Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Effect Of Viscoelasticity On Cellular Morphology And Activity, Thomas J. Petet Jr
Effect Of Viscoelasticity On Cellular Morphology And Activity, Thomas J. Petet Jr
Theses and Dissertations
It has been well established that there is a link between substrate stiffness and cellular activities such as proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Less characterized is the link between the time-dependent viscosity of a substrate with those cellular activities. To explore this, PDMS substrates were created with predictably tunable stiffness and viscosity parameters. A simulated model was also developed in parallel to explore the potential effects of viscosity in a computationally predictive way. It was found that the inclusion of viscosity caused a major paradigm shift to a non-zero substrate equilibrium that was sensitive to increases in the substrate stiffness. Finally, …
Characterization Of Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Blends And Fabrication Of Soft Micropillar Arrays For Force Detection, Thomas J. Petet Jr
Characterization Of Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) Blends And Fabrication Of Soft Micropillar Arrays For Force Detection, Thomas J. Petet Jr
Theses and Dissertations
Diseases involving fibrosis cause tens of thousands of deaths per year in the US alone. These diseases are characterized by a large amount of extracellular matrix, causing stiff abnormal tissues that may not function correctly. To take steps towards curing these diseases, a fundamental understanding of how cells interact with their substrate and how mechanical forces alter signaling pathways is vital. Studying the mechanobiology of cells and the interaction between a cell and its extracellular matrix can help explain the mechanisms behind stem cell differentiation, cell migration, and metastasis. Due to the correlation between force, extracellular matrix assembly, and substrate …