Biomechanics of Cell Structures for Haptic Simulations.

The studentship will seek to gain a better understanding of physical modelling techniques appropriate to the cell, and in particular investigate techniques from computer science and engineering that would allow us to:
a) track individual molecules and molecule groups - essentially a data problem,
b) seek intelligent algorithms to clump molecules together to form cellular forms such as organelles and membranes, and
c) give these clumps properties that characterise their actions that reflect their role. This approach would allow an open-source 'physics engines' to compute appropriate solutions.

The primary aim is to explore approximate physical models of cellular processes such as muscle contraction or platelet aggregation during thrombosis that can be solved rapidly to allow implementation in a haptic interaction. The primary goal is to facilitate a 'hands on' understanding of the cellular process for students, and to allow them to explore 'what if' scenarios in an interactive haptic virtual reality learning environment. Some initial work in this area was done by the investigators when they modelled the materials used for cavity restoration in dentistry however the method is a 'sum of particle pairs' that works well for fluid problems but is insufficiently fast or general for cellular physics.

Of particular interest is the modelling of the mechanics of microtubules interacting with dynein and kinesins proteins. Dynein and kinesin essentially 'walk' along the microtubules and provide the mechanisms behind several cell processes including muscle contraction, cell division and protein transport. Microtubules are also vital in platelet activity (production, quiescence, activation and thrombus formation), and is relevant to understanding blood clot formation. Thus this research studentship is joint between the Platelet Biology Research Group and the University of Reading Haptics network. It has the potential to both advance haptic and virtual reality simulation techniques and to advance understanding of platelet mechanics.