Welcome to the Center on Probes for Molecular Mechanotechnology (CPMM)! The CPMM is primarily housed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia but we have collaborators and partners that are geographically spread across the USA and the globe.

The goal of our center is to develop and optimize technologies to enable the study of mechanobiology and mechanotransduction pathways in living cells. The CPMM includes three highly synergistic Technology Development Projects (TDPs) that will be led by Alexa Mattheyses, Khalid Salaita, and Yonggang Ke who have a strong track record of jointly publishing and working together to developed tension probe technologies. In TDP#1: High resolution probes for mechanobiology, we are creating “indestructible” probes that can push the limits of spatial and orientation resolution for the DNA tension probe technology. Tension-PAINT imaging is being refined to achieve realtime 20 nm spatial mapping of forces and the technology is now integrated with immunostaining to map the proteins that assemble within proximity to mechanically active receptors. Force orientation is mapped using fluorescence polarization methods with turn-key commercial microscopes. In TDP#2: we are developing new types of probes that are currently under peer review and we will be sharing the details of this new technology when these developments are published. Under TDP#3: Amplified force sensors, the central technology here is responsive DNA structures that amplify mechanical inputs. We have a number of catalytic reactions that are triggered mechanically and these will be used to facilitate wide-spread adoption of CPMM probes for end users that are not interested in high resolution mapping but rather high-throughput screening.

The CPMM has nine associated inaugural Driving Biomedical Projects (DBPs) led by a team of diverse collaborators from across the US. DBPs #1-#4 are focused on mechanobiology of T cells and use CPMM tools to test the mechanosensor function of the T cell receptor (TCR) and associated co-receptors. DBP#5 focuses on the heterogeneity in cancer cells. DBP#6 and #7 target the mechanosensor responses of platelets. Finally, DBP#8 and #9 address fundamental questions of the role of mechanics in focal adhesions.

Our prototype TDP technologies provide methods to measure molecular forces with the same ease and simplicity as that of immunostaining, flow cytometry, PCR and ELISA. But unlike these mainstream techniques, mechano-imaging, mechano-PCR, mechano-flow, and mechano-ELISA are not commercialized. Hence, the reagents and surface preparation protocols and data analysis routines have to be custom prepared by the end user. This can be challenging to the non-expert and is not routine. Therefore, the CPMM includes a strong Community Engagement (CE) component. CE activities integrates hands-on training workshops, publication of methods articles, virtual seminar series, industry engagement, and engagement with key mechanobiology conferences that will help accelerate adoption of the tension probe technology. These CE activities will ultimately lead to commercialization which will enable wide spread dissemination across the various cell biology communities.

If you are interested in helping us “test-drive” and validate CPMM technology, then please apply to become a DBP member. For cell biologists that are interested in using off-the shelf hardened and validated CPMM assays, then you can request assistance through the collaborative service project (CSP). Finally, those that are already comfortable with CPMM probes and are interested in reagents and protocols, then please follow the link for the “Tools & Resources”.