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The interest of this lab lies in the application of the theoretical and experimental machinery of physics and engineering to obtain a quantitative understanding of specific problems inspired by biological systems. Specifically, our long term aims are to develop a fundamental understanding on cell mechanics and the mechanisms by which motile cells adhere, spread, and crawl over adhesive substrata with a primary focus on neurons and cells involved in cardiovascular disease. |
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University of Maryland Fischell Bioengineering Department 3135 Kim Engineering Building College Park, MD 20742 P: (301) 405 8250 F: (301) 314 6868 E: helim@umd.edu
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CELLS |
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VESICLES |
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BIOPOLYMERS |
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS |
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Shapes of Mixed Phospholipid Vesicles. With G. Paredes and A. Maldonado Arce. J. Biol. Phys. 32 (2006) 177. Description of the morphology of vesicles as a function of the membrane lipid mixture. Cylindrical vesicles form coils when an external perturbation is imposed. |
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Interplay Between Shear Stress and Adhesion Ligands on the Locomotion of Human Neutrophils. With Lee Smith, J. Haun, and D. Hammer. Biophys. J. 92 (2007) 632. The effect of flow and adhesive substrates on neutrophil motility is explored in this paper. |
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Neutrophil Spreading: From Touchdown to First Steps.. With K. Sengupta, Lee Smith, P. Janmey, and D. Hammer. Biophys. J. 91 (2006) 4638. Spreading of neutrophils is explored using interference microscopy. Neutrophils show anisotropic spreading with adhesion dependent growth. |
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The picture of the month: |
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October, 2006 |
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November, 2006 |
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Runner up, November, 2006 |
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December, 2006 |
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January, 2007 |
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March, 2007 |
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Neutrophil Traction Stresses are Concentrated in the Uropod during Migration. With Lee Smith, M. Dembo, J. Haun, and D. Hammer. Biophys. J. 92 (2007) L58. Neutrophils move by exerting forces in the rear. |
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Leann Matta wins 2007 PEO scholar award. |
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May, 2007— AFM of a cell |
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Leann Matta wins travel award to present her work at the International Symposium on Neural Rege neration in Pacific Grove,CA |
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June, 2007—Neutrophil crawling |
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Science walks forward on two feet, namely theory and experiment. Sometimes it is one foot which is put forward first, sometimes the other, but continuous progress is only made by the use of both... Robert Millikan |