{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/25329"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/25329","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"STEP-enabled Force Measurement Platform of Single Migratory Cells","abstract":"Spinneret based Tunable Engineered Parameters (STEP) Platform is a recently reported pseudo-dry spinning and non-electrospinning technique that allows for the deposition of aligned polymeric nano-fibers with control on fiber diameters and orientation in single and multiple layers (diameter: sub 100nm micron, length: mm-cm), deposition (parallelism 2.5 degrees) and spacing (microns)). A wide range of polymers such as PLGA, PLA, PS, and PU have been utilized for their unique material properties in scaffold design. In this thesis two unique bioscaffolds are demonstrated for the measurement of group cell migration for wound closure and single cell contractility force for the study of force modulation. The wound healing assay bridges the gap between confluent reservoirs of NIH3T3 fibroblasts through arrangement of a suspended array of fibers guiding group cell migration along the fiber axis. This platform demonstrates that topographical and geometrical features of suspended fibers play a very important role in wound closure. Spacing, alignment and orientation were optimized to shown an increased rate of closure. In the second complementary assay, we report a fused-fiber network of suspended fibers capable of measuring single cell forces. Results from our experiments demonstrate that force behavior is dependent on mechanical properties such as stiffness and geometry of fiber networks. We also demonstrate changes in spatial and temporal organization of focal adhesion zyxin in response to single cell migration on these networks.","abstract_html":"Spinneret based Tunable Engineered Parameters (STEP) Platform is a recently reported pseudo-dry spinning and non-electrospinning technique that allows for the deposition of aligned polymeric nano-fibers with control on fiber diameters and orientation in single and multiple layers (diameter: sub 100nm micron, length: mm-cm), deposition (parallelism 2.5 degrees) and spacing (microns)). A wide range of polymers such as PLGA, PLA, PS, and PU have been utilized for their unique material properties in scaffold design. In this thesis two unique bioscaffolds are demonstrated for the measurement of group cell migration for wound closure and single cell contractility force for the study of force modulation. The wound healing assay bridges the gap between confluent reservoirs of NIH3T3 fibroblasts through arrangement of a suspended array of fibers guiding group cell migration along the fiber axis. This platform demonstrates that topographical and geometrical features of suspended fibers play a very important role in wound closure. Spacing, alignment and orientation were optimized to shown an increased rate of closure. In the second complementary assay, we report a fused-fiber network of suspended fibers capable of measuring single cell forces. Results from our experiments demonstrate that force behavior is dependent on mechanical properties such as stiffness and geometry of fiber networks. We also demonstrate changes in spatial and temporal organization of focal adhesion zyxin in response to single cell migration on these networks.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ng, Colin Uber"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Nain, Amrinder"],"committee_members":["Behkam, Bahareh","Kapania, Rakesh K."],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-02-05","date_published":"2014-02-05","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:51Z","subjects":["nanofibers","group cell migration","cell forces","wound healing"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:2031"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:2031","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/25329","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Nain, Amrinder"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Behkam, Bahareh","Kapania, Rakesh K."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ng, Colin Uber"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-02-06T09:00:08Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-02-06T09:00:08Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-02-05"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["nanofibers","group cell migration","cell forces","wound healing"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:2031"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/25329"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Spinneret based Tunable Engineered Parameters (STEP) Platform is a recently reported pseudo-dry spinning and non-electrospinning technique that allows for the deposition of aligned polymeric nano-fibers with control on fiber diameters and orientation in single and multiple layers (diameter: sub 100nm micron, length: mm-cm), deposition (parallelism 2.5 degrees) and spacing (microns)). A wide range of polymers such as PLGA, PLA, PS, and PU have been utilized for their unique material properties in scaffold design. In this thesis two unique bioscaffolds are demonstrated for the measurement of group cell migration for wound closure and single cell contractility force for the study of force modulation. The wound healing assay bridges the gap between confluent reservoirs of NIH3T3 fibroblasts through arrangement of a suspended array of fibers guiding group cell migration along the fiber axis. This platform demonstrates that topographical and geometrical features of suspended fibers play a very important role in wound closure. Spacing, alignment and orientation were optimized to shown an increased rate of closure. In the second complementary assay, we report a fused-fiber network of suspended fibers capable of measuring single cell forces. Results from our experiments demonstrate that force behavior is dependent on mechanical properties such as stiffness and geometry of fiber networks. We also demonstrate changes in spatial and temporal organization of focal adhesion zyxin in response to single cell migration on these networks."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["STEP-enabled Force Measurement Platform of Single Migratory Cells"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Nain, Amrinder"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Behkam, Bahareh","Kapania, Rakesh K."],"dc:contributor.department":["Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Ng, Colin Uber"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-02-06T09:00:08Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-02-06T09:00:08Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-02-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["Spinneret based Tunable Engineered Parameters (STEP) Platform is a recently reported pseudo-dry spinning and non-electrospinning technique that allows for the deposition of aligned polymeric nano-fibers with control on fiber diameters and orientation in single and multiple layers (diameter: sub 100nm micron, length: mm-cm), deposition (parallelism 2.5 degrees) and spacing (microns)). A wide range of polymers such as PLGA, PLA, PS, and PU have been utilized for their unique material properties in scaffold design. In this thesis two unique bioscaffolds are demonstrated for the measurement of group cell migration for wound closure and single cell contractility force for the study of force modulation. The wound healing assay bridges the gap between confluent reservoirs of NIH3T3 fibroblasts through arrangement of a suspended array of fibers guiding group cell migration along the fiber axis. This platform demonstrates that topographical and geometrical features of suspended fibers play a very important role in wound closure. Spacing, alignment and orientation were optimized to shown an increased rate of closure. In the second complementary assay, we report a fused-fiber network of suspended fibers capable of measuring single cell forces. 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