Breadcrumb
Motility and Forces in cells
Supervisor: Isaac Chenchiah
Theme: Materials Science
(With Tanniemola Liverpool)
Biological cells can sense forces applied on them and respond to these forces. Their ability to do so influences a wide variety of biological process/phenomena such as motility (ability to move), lineage specification and cell division. What makes them interesting from the point of view of materials science is the fact that they are `active', continuously using stored chemical energy in order to perform mechanical work. Such active materials show novel mechanical properties not seen in non-biological materials such as concrete, plastic or metals.
This project will attempt to use tools from statistical physics and micro-mechanics to further our understanding of the mechanisms of force sensing and the processes through which force influences cell behaviour. The work would be primarily theoretical but will involve some computations and interaction with experimentalists.
References:
Sackmann, E., Biophysics: How cells feel the force, Nature Physics, 6(6), 407-408 (2010).
Liverpool, T. B. and Marchetti, M. C.: Instabilities of isotropic solutions of active polar filaments, Physical Review Letters, 90, 138102 (2003)