Physical stimuli are essential for the function of eukaryotic cells, and changes in physical
signals are important elements in normal tissue development as well as in disease initiation …

Actomyosin-mediated contractility is a highly conserved mechanism for generating
mechanical stress in animal cells and underlies muscle contraction, cell migration, cell …

Cells alter their mechanical properties in response to their local microenvironment; this plays
a role in determining cell function and can even influence stem cell fate. Here, we identify a …

The minimal structural unit of a solid tumor is a single cell or a cellular compartment such as
the nucleus. A closer look inside the cells reveals that there are functional compartments or …

Cell migration plays a major role in many fundamental biological processes, such as
morphogenesis, tumor metastasis, and wound healing. As they anchor and pull on their …

Filamin A (FLNa), the first non-muscle actin filament cross-linking protein, was identified in
1975. Thirty five years of FLNa research has revealed its structure in great detail, discovered …

The responses of cells to chemical signals are relatively well characterized and understood.
Cells also respond to mechanical signals in the form of externally applied force and forces …

Living cells are an active soft material with fascinating mechanical properties. Under
mechanical loading, cells exhibit creep and stress relaxation behavior that follows a power …

Cells from many different tissues sense the stiffness and spatial patterning of their
microenvironment to modulate their shape and cortical stiffness. It is currently unknown how …

Immune cells identify and destroy tumors by recognizing cellular traits indicative of
oncogenic transformation. In this study, we found that myocardin-related transcription factors …