The role of mechanics in development, physiology, and disease is apparent. At the macroscopic level, mechanics is central to the functioning of the human organs and tissues such as body movement, respiration, and circulation. At molecular and cellular levels, the chemical and mechanical interactions of biomolecules mediate the cellular homeostasis and the cell’s most basic functions such as migration, apoptosis, division and generating and sustaining forces. Taking interdisciplinary approaches, we strive to further our fundamental understanding of cell mechanics and its role in physiology and disease.
Cells generate and sustain mechanical forces within their environment as part of their normal physiology. They can detect mechanical stimulation by the activation of mechanosensitive signalling pathways, and respond to mechanical cues through cytoskeletal re-organization and force generation. While genetic mutations and pathogens that disrupt the cytoskeletal architecture can result in changes to cell mechanical properties such as elasticity, perturbations to the mechanical environment can affect cell morphology, lineage, and fate. These transformations are often a hallmark and symptom of a variety of pathologies. Understanding how mechanical cues are transduced into biochemical signals and how biochemical changes in the cell give rise to changes in cellular mechanics or mechanical forces (the mechanobiology of the cell) is a central challenge of the 21st century cell biomechanics research.
We are mainly interested in addressing these challenges and exploring the physical and molecular basis of cell mechanics in the context of physiology and disease. Our vision for the next decade is to explore the biophysical origins of cellular behaviour within the framework of cancer metastasis and nervous system pathology by taking an interdisciplinary approach combining modern molecular biology with advanced cell mechanical characterization techniques and computational approaches.
Cells generate and sustain mechanical forces within their environment as part of their normal physiology. They can detect mechanical stimulation by the activation of mechanosensitive signalling pathways, and respond to mechanical cues through cytoskeletal re-organization and force generation. While genetic mutations and pathogens that disrupt the cytoskeletal architecture can result in changes to cell mechanical properties such as elasticity, perturbations to the mechanical environment can affect cell morphology, lineage, and fate. These transformations are often a hallmark and symptom of a variety of pathologies. Understanding how mechanical cues are transduced into biochemical signals and how biochemical changes in the cell give rise to changes in cellular mechanics or mechanical forces (the mechanobiology of the cell) is a central challenge of the 21st century cell biomechanics research.
We are mainly interested in addressing these challenges and exploring the physical and molecular basis of cell mechanics in the context of physiology and disease. Our vision for the next decade is to explore the biophysical origins of cellular behaviour within the framework of cancer metastasis and nervous system pathology by taking an interdisciplinary approach combining modern molecular biology with advanced cell mechanical characterization techniques and computational approaches.
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We investigate the time-dependent mechanics (rheology) of living cells at the single-cell and tissue levels in the context of physiology and disease. At the single-cell level, and with a view to understanding the mechanics of the basic constituents of an organ, we study cell rheology. At the tissue level, we characterise the mechanical properties of central nervous and tumour tissues, such as their elasticity, to investigate how they influence cancer progression and neuronal regeneration. Focussing on identifying the mechanical determinants that underlie the transmigration of circulating tumour cells, we work at the interface of mechanical engineering and cancer cell biology to investigate the mechanics of circulating tumour cells during endothelial transmigration. We employ state-of-the-art microfluidics technologies to engineer tissues that mimic in vivo cellular environments, and apply mechanical measurement techniques such as atomic force microscopy and traction force microscopy to study the physical behaviour of cells under conditions relevant to physiology and disease.
We are grateful for the generous support of our funders who make our research possible:
Cancer Research UK
Leverhulme Trust
UCL Cancer Institute
Wellcome Trust
EPSRC
Singapore Agency for Science and Technology
Cancer Research UK
Leverhulme Trust
UCL Cancer Institute
Wellcome Trust
EPSRC
Singapore Agency for Science and Technology
