Nanoscale interactions range from van der Waals contacts, to hydrogen bonding, to Coulombic. They govern ordering and assembly of molecules. The same forces can modify systems that reach up to legthscales several orders of magnitude greater than the nano and are even able to modify the geometric shape of living cells to make them form of a variety of cusped poligons. The practical applications of variations of the geometrical structure and mechanical dynamics of cells have far reaching consequences. Cell shape influences the differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. Cells cultured in rectangles and pentagons display different adipogenesis and osteogenesis profiles. Understanding the response of living cells to patterned chemical cues is intrinsically linked to our comprehension of the interactions that drive hierarchical self-assembly.<br/>I will discuss simulations where chemical objects are coarse grained as parcels of fluid, which interact through forces that combine conservative, dissipative and random components. At the nanometric level, I will examine the interactions of lipid bilayers with variously functionalized graphenes and discuss the results in terms of nanotoxicology. At the micrometric level, I will show that the mechanical response of living cells on a 2D pattern of chemical cues can be modelled. The cells are effectively represented by drops that are endowed with the presence of additional forces that make them active. With the proper choice of these forces, the phenomena that emerge from the dynamics simulations match the experiments. In particular, a combination of hydrophilic and lipophilic forces allows the active drops to respond to geometric shape cues and form squares, pentagons, hexagons and flowers, just as living cells do. The mechano-chemical interactions that orchestrate cell behavior are therefore harnessed and used to beat the surface tension that characterizes an inactive drop.<br/>

Beyond self-assembly: 2D chemical interactions and patterns, a computational approach to complex systems

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.