Home > Press > Nanomaterials to Mimic Cells
Nanomaterials to Mimic Cells
August 23, 2005
Mimicking a real living cell by combining artificial membranes and nanomaterials in one construction is the aim of a new research grant at UC Davis. The Nanoscale Integrated Research Team grant, funded by the National Science Foundation with $1.6 million over four years, will study membranes mounted on aerogels, solid materials riddled with so many tiny pores that they are mostly empty.
All living cells are wrapped in a double-layered membrane of oily lipid molecules. Cell membranes are studded with proteins and other molecules, governing how food and wastes get in and out of a cell, how cells signal to and react to their environment, and how they divide and grow.
Currently, researchers studying artificial membranes mount them on solid substrates such as gold, glass or polymers, but that means that only one side of the membrane is accessible, said Subhash Risbud, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis and principal investigator on the project.
Using the porous aerogel as a support, the researchers should be able to access and study both sides of the membrane.
"The hope is to build artificial membrane systems that are as close to a biological membrane as we can get right now," said Marjorie Longo, associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis.
The studies could lead to new insights into how real cell membranes behave, for example in the platelet cells that form blood clots.
Other members of the project are Roland Faller, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, UC Davis; Curtis Frank, Stanford University; Joe Satcher, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; and researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany; Unilever Research and Development U.K in England, and Helsinki University of Technology in Finland.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
Investments/IPO's/Splits
Daikin Industries becomes OCSiAl shareholder July 27th, 2021
INBRAIN Neuroelectronics raises over €14M to develop smart graphene-based neural implants for personalised therapies in brain disorders March 26th, 2021
180 Degree Capital Corp. Issues Second Open Letter to the Board and Shareholders of Enzo Biochem, Inc. March 26th, 2021
Nanomedicine
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Good as gold - improving infectious disease testing with gold nanoparticles April 5th, 2024
Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||