title: Understanding dynamic changes in live cell adhesion with neutron reflectometry.
abstract: Neutron reflectometry (NR) was used to examine various live cells adhesion to quartz substrates under different environmental conditions, including flow stress. To the best of our knowledge, these measurements represent the first successful visualization and quantization of the interface between live cells and a substrate with sub-nanometer resolution. In our first experiments, we examined live mouse fibroblast cells as opposed to past experiments using supported lipids, proteins, or peptide layers with no associated cells. We continued the NR studies of cell adhesion by investigating endothelial monolayers and glioblastoma cells under dynamic flow conditions. We demonstrated that neutron reflectometry is a powerful tool to study the strength of cellular layer adhesion in living tissues, which is a key factor in understanding the physiology of cell interactions and conditions leading to abnormal or disease circumstances. Continuative measurements, such as investigating changes in tumor cell - surface contact of various glioblastomas, could impact advancements in tumor treatments. In principle, this can help us to identify changes that correlate with tumor invasiveness. Pursuit of these studies can have significant medical impact on the understanding of complex biological problems and their effective treatment,e.g.for the development of targeted anti-invasive therapies.
authors.affiliation: MPA-CINT/Lujan Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Junghans
authors.affiliation: Biosciences Division, Bioenergy and Biome Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Jo
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Waltman
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Hillary L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 200 Lothrop St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Luka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pocivavsek
authors.affiliation: NDA Analytics, Woolley Road, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 4HS, UK.
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zebda
authors.affiliation: Lung Injury Center, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicag; 5841 S. Maryland Ave., Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Birukov
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School 4 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Viapiano
authors.affiliation: MPA-CINT/Lujan Neutron Scattering Center, Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA.
authors.forename: Jaroslaw
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Majewski
keywords: adhesion; cells; endothelial monolayer; glioblastomas; neutron scattering; shear stress