Form and Function: Using a Curved Surface to Change Cell Behavior

Form and Function: Using a Curved Surface to Change Cell Behavior

Collections: Image Award Winners

2012 Award Winner

Laura Indolfi
Edelman Lab

Koch Institute at MIT, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology

Confocal Micrograph

How can scientists correct harmful behaviors in diseased cells?  Many efforts center on delivery of drugs into cells, but here researchers influence the behavior of endothelial cells (red) simply by changing the shape of the surface the cells rest on.

Video

Laura Indolfi explains how and why she captured this image of endothelial cells bending around a curved surface.