Faculty Profile

Kenneth Barbee
Associate Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems

3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215-895-1335
Fax: 215-895-4983
Email: barbee@drexel.edu

Education
Ph.D., 1991, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Lab Members
Graduate Students: Allison Andrews (PhD)
Alumni: Soonjin Hong (PhD, 2008), Devrim Kilinc (PhD, 2008), Dihui Hong (PhD, 2007), Christin Alejnikov (MS, 2007), Zachary Forbes (PhD, 2005), Gulyeter Serbest (PhD, 2001), Brett Blackman (PhD, 1998 UPenn)

Keywords
Cellular biomechanics of neural and vascular injury, mechanotransduction in the cardiovascular system, mechanical control of growth and development for wound healing and tissue engineering, cell adhesion and biosensors

Research Interests
Dr. Barbee's research interests encompass a wide range of cellular processes and cell types. They all involve the role of mechanics and transport in cellular function. Three major areas of research are 1) mechanisms of cell injury and repair, 2) the role of mechanics and transport in vascular physiology, and 3) the mechanics of cell adhesion and migration. Dr. Barbee's work in neural injury focuses on the acute effects of mechanical trauma on cell structure and the biological consequences of membrane damage. He has developed in vitro models that allow precise control of the mechanical loading applied to cultured neurons and quantification of the structural damage and the functional response. He is investigating the potential therapeutic effects of directly repairing damaged membrane using the nonionic surfactant polymer, poloxamer 188 (P188). He has shown that P188 treatment can protect injured neurons from apoptosis and necrosis and prevent the structural alterations characteristic of axonal injury.

Dr. Barbee has been a leader in the micromechanical characterization of the forces acting on vascular endothelial cells due to blood flow. The responses of the endothelium to changes in blood flow regulate normal vascular function responsible for the proper distribution of blood throughout the vascular system and play a crucial role in various vascular disease processes including atherosclerosis and hypertension. Dr. Barbee is currently studying the role of mechanics and transport at the cell level in the production of nitric oxide (NO), a major regulator of vascular function.

Another major research area of the Barbee lab group is the mechanics of the cell adhesion process and its relationship to functional phenotype. One technique we have utilized is a thickness shear mode (TSM) sensor. Recently we have used this technique to examine the adhesion kinetic changes that occur due to phenotypic transformations of breast epithelial cells. The mechanisms behind cell adhesion involve complex physical interactions, chemical binding events and biological signaling. With the sensor, we have been able to monitor the structural changes at the cell-surface interface in real time as the cell progresses from initial attachment, to firm adhesion, and spreading. Coupled with independent measures of cell adhesion strength and cell mechanical properties, we are developing theoretical models to predict cell behavior in terms of the physical and biological properties characteristic of different phenotypes.

Selected Publications

Neuronal Injury

Kilinc, D., Gallo, G., Barbee, K. (2008) Mechanically-induced membrane poration causes axonal beading and localized cytoskeletal damage. Experimental Neurology (epub ahead of print) doi:10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.04.025

Kilinc, D., Gallo, G., Barbee, K. (2007) Poloxamer 188 Reduces Axonal Beading Following Mechanical Trauma to Cultured Neurons. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2007: 5395-8.

Barbee, K. A. (2005). Mechanical cell injury. Cell Injury: Mechanisms, Responses, and Repair. 1066: 67-84.

Serbest, G., J. Horwitz, et al. (2005). "The effect of Poloxamer-188 on neuronal cell recovery from mechanical injury." Journal of Neurotrauma 22(1): 119-132.

Serbest, G., Horwitz, J., Jost, M., and Barbee, K.A. (2005) Mechanisms of Cell Death and Neuroprotection by Poloxamer 188 after Mechanical Trauma. FASEB J. 10.1096/fj.05-4024fje.

Cell Adhesion and Biosensors

Ergezen, E., S. Hong, et al. (2007). "Real time monitoring of the effects of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan (HSPG) and surface charge on the cell adhesion process using thickness shear mode (TSM) sensor." Biosensors & Bioelectronics 22(9-10): 2256-2260.

Hong, S., E. Ergezen, et al. (2006). "Real-time analysis of cell-surface adhesive interactions using thickness shear mode resonator." Biomaterials 27(34): 5813-5820.

Dimilla, P. A., K. Barbee, et al. (1991). "Mathematical-Model for the Effects of Adhesion and Mechanics on Cell-Migration Speed." Biophysical Journal 60(1): 15-37.

Moxon, K. A., S. C. Leiser, et al. (2004). "Ceramic-based multisite electrode arrays for chronic single-neuron recording." IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 51(4): 647-656.

Vascular Cell Mechanics

Hong, D., Jaron, D., Buerk, D.G., and Barbee, K.A. (2008) Transport-dependent calcium signaling in spatially segregated cellular caveolar domains, Am J Physiol Heart Cell Physiol 294(3):C856-66

Hong, D., D. Jaron, et al. (2006). "Heterogeneous response of microvascular endothelial cells to shear stress." American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology 290(6):H2498-H2508.

Barbee, K. A. (2002). "Role of subcellular shear-stress distributions in endothelial cell mechanotransduction." Annals of Biomedical Engineering 30(4): 472-482.

Blackman, B. R., K. A. Barbee, et al. (2000). "In vitro cell shearing device to investigate the dynamic response of cells in a controlled hydrodynamic environment." Annals of Biomedical Engineering 28(4): 363-372.

Blackman, B. R., L. E. Thibault, et al. (2000). "Selective modulation of endothelial cell [Ca2+]i response to flow by the onset rate of shear stress." Journal of Biomechanical Engineering-Transactions of the ASME 122(3): 274-282.

Barbee, K. A. (1995). "Changes in surface topography in endothelial monolayers with time at confluence: Influence on subcellular shear stress distribution due to flow." Biochemistry and Cell Biology-Biochimie Et Biologie Cellulaire 73(7-8): 501-505.

Davies, P. F., T. Mundel, et al. (1995). "Mechanism for heterogeneous endothelial responses to flow in vivo and in vitro." Journal of Biomechanics 28(12): 1553-1560.

Barbee, K. A., T. Mundel, et al. (1995). "Subcellular-Distribution of Shear-Stress at the Surface of Flow-Aligned and Nonaligned Endothelial Monolayers." American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology 37(4): H1765-H1772.

Barbee, K. A., P. F. Davies, et al. (1994). "Shear Stress-Induced Reorganization of the Surface-Topography of Living Endothelial-Cells Imaged by Atomic-Force Microscopy." Circulation Research 74(1): 163-171.