Epithelium is multifunctional tissue that lines the organs and cavities in our body. Its aberrant behavior is connected to sever disorders extending from blinding eye diseases to gastrointestinal disorders and cancer. These diseases involve changes in cellular mechanical and electrical processes, which regulate the normal functions of these multicellular assemblies. However, the electromechanical regulation of epithelial cell functions is poorly understood and one reason for this has been the lack of proper methodologies. In this proposal we will develop multimodal microscopic cell manipulation and measurement methods, which will be used to study the role of cellular electromechanics in epithelial functions and two epithelium-related eye diseases: age related macular degredation and retinitis pigmentosa. Both of the diseases cause substantial societal and economic burden as their prevalence is high and efficient cures are lacking. With our research we hope to tackle this challenge.

2023

2027