Treatment with Y-27632, a ROCK Inhibitor, Increases the Proinvasive Nature of SW620 Cells on 3D Collagen Type 1 Matrix.

The concept of using tissue density as a mechanism to diagnose a tumor has been around for centuries. However, this concept has not been sufficiently explored in a laboratory setting. Therefore, in this paper, we observed the effects of cell density and extracellular matrix (ECM) density on colon cancer invasion and proliferation using SW620 cells.

The extracellular matrix microtopography drives critical changes in cellular motility and Rho A activity in colon cancer cells.

We have shown that the microtopography (mT) underlying colon cancer changes as a tumor de-differentiates. We distinguish the well-differentiated mT based on the increasing number of "pits" and poorly differentiated mT on the basis of increasing number of "posts." We investigated Rho A as a mechanosensing protein using mT features derived from those observed in the ECM of colon cancer.

Nanosized corners for trapping and detecting magnetic nanoparticles.

We present a device concept based on controlled micromagnetic configurations in a corner-shaped permalloy nanostructure terminated with two circular disks, specifically designed for the capture and detection of a small number of magnetic beads in suspension. A transverse head-to-head domain wall (TDW) placed at the corner of the structure plays the role of an attracting pole for magnetic beads. The TDW is annihilated in the terminating disks by applying an appropriate magnetic field, whose value is affected by the presence of beads chemically bound to the surface.

Nanofabrication in cellulose acetate.

We have demonstrated nanofabrication with commercialized cellulose acetate. Cellulose acetate is used for bulk nanofabrication and surface nanofabrication. In bulk nanofabrication, cellulose acetate reacts with an e-beam and permanent patterns are formed in it instead of being transferred to other substrates.

Micro/nanosized refractive lens arrays formed by means of conformal thin film deposition.

We provide a 'growing' method for fabricating a microlens array with lateral size of a few microns or less. Instead of using complicated etching techniques, the method forms a spherical profile of the lens using conformal chemical vapor deposition. We have fabricated two lens arrays.