Return to site

Alison Douglas publishes in PNAS!!!

Dynamic assembly of ultrasoft colloidal networks enables cell invasion within restrictive fibrillar polymers

Alison Douglas' PhD work was accepted for publication in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

After MANY years of experiments, analysis and writing Dr. Douglas (GT BME '15) was rewarded with a publication in PNAS, one of the premier multi-disciplinary journals. Her work entitled, "Dynamic assembly of ultrasoft colloidal networks enables cell invasion within restrictive fibrillar polymers" reports a unique phenomena whereby colloidal particles are driven into a single tunnel-like domain during the polymerization of the blood clotting protein Fibrin. When Ultra-Low Crosslinked (ULC) microgels are the colloidal particle of choice, cells can use their unique flow behavior even at high packing fraction (volume fraction) to rapidly migrate through the colloidal tunnels within fibrin.

Congrats again to Alison!!