Meeting Abstract

S7.10  Tuesday, Jan. 6  Nanotechnological Studies of Native and Regenerated Musculoskeletal Tissues ORTIZ, Christine; Massachusetts Institute of Technology cortiz@mit.edu

Biological materials, such as musculoskeletal tissues, have developed amazingly complex, hierarchical, heterogeneous nanostructures over millions of years of evolution in order to function properly under the mechanical loads they experience in their environment. In this talk, I will describe studies of these fascinating materials using "nanomechanics"; i.e. the measurement and prediction of extremely small forces within and between nanoscale constituents in order to provide a fundamental molecular-level understanding of the mechanical function, quality, and pathology of structural biological materials. Examples of materials under investigation to be discussed include; cartilage and bone. A quad-tiered approach is taken in order to achieve this goal which includes; nanomechanics of single cells and their pericellular matrix, individual extracellular matrix molecule imaging, biomimetic model systems, and tissue-level properties. Nanotechnological methods applied to the field of musculoskeletal tissues and regenerative medicine (e.g. stem-cell based tissue engineering) hold great promise for significant and rapid advancements towards tissue repair and/or replacement and improved treatments for people afflicted with diseases such as osteoarthritis.