UNC-CH Physics and Astronomy Thesis Proposal Presentation

Britta Gorman

“The effect of crosslinkage, scission, and stress on the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix”

It is known that variations in hierarchical structuring and length of biopolymers affect the mechanical properties of protein matrices. Various naturally-occurring enzymes degrade mammalian proteins by breaking one long polymer chain into two or more shorter polymer chains. I propose the use of Brillouin spectroscopy to study the relationship between the degree of enzymatic degradation and crosslinkage, and the effects of these on the relative elastic constants of various protein networks. Similarly, I will use this tool to quantify the effect of structural organization, and external stress. The interplay among these phenomena is not well understood, but it is known that the stiffness of tissues in the body affects many processes from cell diversification to arterial wall resilience. Therefore, I will explore how these effects interact to form one macroscopic model of the effect of enzymes and structural hierarchy on the mechanical properties of biopolymer matrices.