Mechanical Characterization of Cancerous Versus Healthy Fibroblast Cells

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• Mechanical Characterization of Cancerous Versus
  Healthy Fibroblast Cells
• Team Members Amy Lutkus, Cristofer Madera, Bhanu
  Peddi
• Advisor Raffaella De Vita, Ph.D., Jeannine
  Strobl, Ph.D.
• The goal of this project is to successfully
  characterize cancer cells and fibroblast cells
  using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to
  characterize the actin filaments and overall
  structure of the cells through their mechanical
  properties while providing a tensegrity model.

• Project Overview
• Investigation of different substrates for
  optimal attachment
• Study of the effects of fixation on the
  mechanical properties and characterization of the
  cells
• Conduct Atomic Force Microscope measurements for
  analysis of mechanical properties
• Production of efficient MATLAB code for modeling
  analysis
• Optical and fluorescence microscope imaging for
  understanding cell behavior
• Design and build a reliable and predictable
  tensegrity model for future use
• Writing a journal article to present for further
  research