Cells, Forces, and the Microenvironment

With the recent development of new experimental approaches and methodologies, it is becoming clear that cells and tissues are not regulated by biochemical signals alone. Indeed, physical cues arising in the biological microenvironment are directly coupled to the biochemical regulation of living systems. This book provides a broad overview of how me

Table of Contents:
Micromechanical Cues Converging on Fibroblasts, Cardiac Myocytes and Stem Cells. How Microbes Sense and Respond to Force: a Single-Molecule View. Modulating Cell Adhesion by Non-Covalent Ligand Attachment. Traction Microscopy. The Mechanical Regulation of Myofibroblasts. Mechanically Guided Matrix Remodeling and Prevention of Fibrosis in Regenerative Medicine. Interstitial Fluid Flow Mechanosensing: Mechanisms and Consequences. Mechanical Properties of Cytoskeletal Structures and their Response to Externally Applied Forces. Shape and Mechanical Cues Underlying Cellular Homeostasis in Soft Organs. Muscle Contraction and Sarcomere Length Non-Uniformities. Microfluidic Modeling of Cancer Metastasis. Engineering Strategies to Recapitulate the Tumor Microenvironment. Micropost Methods for Cell Biomechanics of the Cardiovascular System. Dynamic Mechanical Environments to Quantify and Control Cellular Dynamics. Tip Growth in Walled Cells: Cellular Expansion and Invasion Mechanisms. Expansive Growth of Cells with Walls: Force Generation and Growth Regulation.

About the Author :

Charles M. Cuerrier received a PhD in pharmacology at the Universite de Sherbrooke, Canada. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Nanophysics, University of Ottawa, Canada, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He is the recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Fonds de Recherche du Quebec-Sante and of the Ernest and Margaret Ford Research Fellowship in Cardiology.

Andrew E. Pelling received a PhD in physical chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and did his postdoctoral research as a senior research fellow at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, England. He is currently an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Experimental Cell Mechanics at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He leads the Pelling Lab for Biophysical Manipulation at the Center for Interdisciplinary Nanophysics, University of Ottawa.

"This book is an excellent text for the expert or the learner entering the field of mechanobiology. It covers the cues from the forces exerted on cells and by cells to responses to matrix organization and matrix stiffness in how cells grow, crawl, attach, detach, differentiate, and change phenotype. This field is as driven by new techniques as by new data, and this text provides ample information on both with generous helpful use of color figures and a focus on how we understand the most recent key findings."

—Dr. Geoffrey N. Maksym, Dalhousie University, Canada