​One day workshop on Mechanobiology

Material-cytoskeleton mechanical crosstalk regulates cell functions and behavior

                 S.Fusco

 

The interplay of extracellular matrix rigidity, focal adhesion and cytoskeleton assembly regulates mechanosensing and mechanotransduction phenomena. We first investigate how cells modulate their shape, motility and cytoskeletal organization in response to different stiffness of two of the most widely used materials in literature (polyacrylamide, PA and polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS). Then we focus our attention on how substrate rigidity can activate bidirectional interactions between material and focal adhesion/stress fibers system, tailoring the assembly of cytoskeleton and regulating the cell behavior.